Tales of the New Sith Order
by Defender16
Summary: The Alliance to Restore the Republic failed. The Immortal Emperor Palpatine, sustained through clone bodies, reigns supreme. Now an enemy from beyond the Galaxy threatens to end all The Emperor has worked to build.
1. Chapter 1

(Note: This fanfiction was started before the "New Sith Order" was revealed in the Legacy series of Star Wars Novels. The two are unrelated.)

The Alliance to Restore the Republic failed. Their leaders such as Mon Mothma, Ackbar and Fey'lya were killed before they could gain momentum. The Immortal Emperor Palpatine, sustained through clone bodies, reigns supreme in all but the most wayward parts of the galaxy. Young citizens of the Empire are taking on the mantle of protecting it having never faced a widespread Rebellion. Behind it all the New Order of the Sith flourishes kept in check only by The Emperor and his select few champions.

From beyond the farthest reaches of the Outer Rim an enemy is waiting, ready to conquer a galaxy long promised. Ready to free it of the technology of the Empire, and doom it's inhabitants to eternal pain or death...

* * *

"All Pilots to ready stations!" Blared the voice of the ship's flight controller over the intra-ship com system.

Admiral Dorja stood looking through the forward viewports of the Star Destroyer Ardent as hyperspace swirled past. Behind and below him the bridge officers and crew went through system checks and prepared command and control systems.

Out beyond the swirling lights were the six other destroyers that made up his taskforce. Two mark two Imperial class destroyers and four upgraded Victory II Destroyers. He had desperately wanted to wait an extra day for the droid fighter equipped escort carriers to arrive and join his fleet but that delay for this mission was too great.

Bastion, a well populated and loyal system in the outer rim territories had sent a general distress signal stating that the system had come under attack by an alien force of unknown origin. That was the only information that had reached a nearby patrol frigate before the signal cut off. The Frigate had dispatched it's two hyperspace capable Gunboats to jump to Bastion and determine the nature of the emergency further while the Frigate jumped core ward to report. Neither gunboats reported in at the assigned time.

Over the past month pirate and insurgent groups had been attacking Hypercom communication platforms through the outer rim and even into the colonies. Contact with several key positions was starting to become spotty at best. It had been more than two weeks now since the last report from Yaga Minor. Fearing that enough rebel cells had massed to attack the shipyard and had cut off communications, he had begun to assemble a group to perform a recon in force when the distress signal arrived.

The Twenty six squadrons of starfighters his fleet carried would be more than a match for any rebel force they encountered. Still, it paid to be cautious and he hadn't stayed alive this long by recklessly jumping into situations he wasn't prepared for. Dorja wondered who or what the alien attackers could be. Surely the Chiss would have sent some warning if there was something coming in from the unknown regions. If it was the Chiss themselves attacking then the Emperor would already have been screaming for the heads of every one of the blue skinned humanoids.

* * *

They emerged at the edge of the system and began scans directed toward the systems inhabited planet.  
"Status report please. How many rebels are we dealing with?"

Commander Wintle looked up from the crew pit. "Sir it's odd. We've found debris in orbit with enough mass to match Bastion's defence forces but no active Ion signatures."  
"Hmm... let me see a magnified view."  
A small view screen built into the wall activated showing a grainy image of Bastion. Small flecks of debris could be seen where they passed across the face of the planet.  
"You're sure there's no sign of rebel ships in the system? There must be an Ion wake or some remains from a fleet large enough to do this."

"Nothing sir. Only a few asteroids in a high orbit."

"I want a full load out on our TIE Gauntlets. Equip as many as possible with shield pods and arm all of them with missiles. The Gunboats and Skiprays will escort us as we make the jump in system. Same orders to all ships."

* * *

The fleet reverted with the ISD's in a wide delta formation and two Victory's above, the remaining two below.

"Sensors, find me something useful."

"Main population centers appear to have suffered orbital bombardment. Pattern is inconsistent with any in the databanks."

"Blast." Muttered Dorja to himself.

"Is it possible they suffered a directed asteroid bombardment?" Asked Wintle, directing his attention both to the Admiral and the sensors operator. "We did detect asteroids in orbit after all."

"Movement from the asteroid and debris field sir."

Wintle spun on his heel. "Weapons can you get a lock?"

"Negative sir no definitive contacts."

Dorja held up hand towards the Commander. "We'll hold our fire until we can get a good look at the intruders. Same order to all ships."

"Aye sir! Permission to have Interceptors form up into independent strike units."

"Very well, but include the strike units as part of our fighter screen for the moment, deploy our squadrons in a defensive formation. Only launch the strikes units if they try to run for it."

The Destroyers continued in closer to the gravity well for five minutes. "Sensors tell me you have a contact sorted out from those rocks." Whispered the Commander.

"I'm sorry sir but whenever I positively identify an object that appears to be moving under power, it just turns out to be an asteroid fragment. I've logged nearly two hundred of them."

"Admiral, it's no good. The asteroid fragments are interfering with sensor locks. It's like they're moving under their own power."

"Lieutenant, put some of the images of the asteroid fragments up on the main screen. Scroll through them, perhaps we'll find a thruster unit staring back at us."

Images began to blink up on the screen, one replacing another in rapid succession. Dorja began to frown. There was something wrong here, something he'd overlooked. The smaller asteroid fragments all looked very similar. All had the same basic shape, almost as if-

"Hyperspace reversions detected aft! Multiple contacts!"

001


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

"Shields to full, get an image on the screen."

Turning toward them were six large rounded asteroid like shapes, just like the ones now visible through the forward viewports. Two larger ones the size of an Imperator and four smaller ones closer in size to a Mon Cal star cruiser. The ships, for they were certainly space faring vessels, all had what appeared to be large coral like growths coming out of them. Then the branch like growths started dropping small specks into space.

"Magnify one of the objects they're dropping."

An image just like that of one of the small asteroid fragments popped up on screen.

The asteroid ships in orbit of Bastion went active then, two more analogous to Mon Cal Cruisers and several around the size of frigates or Carrack cruisers.

"They could just ram us and we'd never stand a chance." Dorja cursed "Helm. Plot a jump to the edge of the system. Prepare to recover fighters."

The Helmsman had started into the necessary calculations for a jump when a red light went off on his console. "Artificial gravity well detected sir."

"Son of the Sith. Tell our Fighters to engage at will."

"This should be interesting." commented Wintle. "Ideas Admiral?"

"Run like hell first and foremost. Victory Destroyers come about and engage the ships in our aft. ISD's are to reverse engines put down a screen of fire towards the ships coming up from orbit."

* * *

"We're ordered to engage at will." Said the Wing leader. "Major Fel, take your two Gauntlet squadrons and help screen the Destroyers. Interceptors with me."

Several squadrons of Interceptors broke ranks and charged ahead toward the oncoming lumps of rock.

"Gauntlet Squadrons 241 and 242 with me." Commanded Jag Fel. "We'll stay with the Gunboats and Skiprays covering this flank."

As Jag watched, the four Victory Destroyers came about, running their sublight dives to maximum. It took him a moment to realise they were not accelerating as quickly as they should have been. Then sensors showed active tractor beams between the ships. The Victory's were towing the ISD's backwards out of orbit. The larger Destroyers diverting engine power to tractor beams and weapons.

Turbolaser were now filling space with bright green bolts of destructive energy. Jag watched for detonations or other tell tale signs of weapons impacts but none appeared. The Turbolaser bolts simply vanished before they reached the rocky surface of the oncoming ships. The rocks the size of large frigates were fast closing with the fleeing Destroyer group.

Meanwhile the TIE Interceptors had engaged the first line of asteroid fighters. Though manoeuvrable, the unshielded fighters were fast taking damage from some kind of plasma weaponry. Com chatter showed that the TIE sensors were having trouble locking onto the rocky targets.

"Major Fel to Wing leader, recommend fighters switch to ground attack sensors. It may help with target locks."

"Good thinking Major. You heard him, get to it."

* * *

"Fighters are now fully engaged. There's too many enemy ships for them to hold them back."

"Pull the Interceptors back to the main screen. Send the Gauntlets out to help them if you have to. And see if you can penetrate those defences."

"Sir! Cavalcade reports something is striping their forward shields."

"Gravity readings are all over the board sir, not just the interdictor."

The ship shook slightly for a moment and the forward shields disappeared. "Begin a restart on the forward shields. Try extending the inertial compensators to include the shields. Tell the shielded fighters and other destroyers to do the same."

Orange gold plasma poured out from the Frigate analogs and fighters, hitting the unshielded bow of Cavalcade. Secondary explosions tore through the starboard gundecks leaving a trail of debris. A second volley struck near the ship's command platform and heavy Turbolasers. Then two formations of fighters fought their way through the defensive screen and poured fire into the bridge.

"Shields back up sir." Called the operations officer. The board showing shield strength was illuminated in orange.

"Cavalcade is still responding sir, there were crew in the secondary bridge to take over."

"Target the nearest Frigate analog. Both ships hit it with everything."

002


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

Jag Fel was flying for his life. The information on extending the range of the inertial compensator field had come too late for nearly half of the Tie Gauntlet fighters. Luckily the Blastboats had held back far enough that they received the information in time. The fighter screen was fast becoming useless as evidenced by the fires burning aboard Cavalcade.

Jag, a squadron member, and a Blastboat they had been shadowing were using their combined fire to batter past the tiny black singularities the enemy asteroid fighters used for shields. They were killing fighters one at a time but not nearly fast enough.

Cavalcade and Ardent both concentrated their Turbolaser fire on a nearby frigate, overwhelming it's defences and boiling away hull material into space. When Turbolaser bolts finally exploded forth from the opposite side of the ship, the Frigate began to break up.

The Victory Destroyers were faring poorly though. Their fighter squadrons were being decimated and shields were fast slipping away under plasma hits. Ardent and Cavalcade's fighter squadrons were now being driven away from their mother ships by walls of fighters.

* * *

Things were turning grim.

"We're not getting out of this one in one piece Commander."

"Aye sir."

"Sensors have you located the interdictors?"

"Yes sir! They're the four Cruiser Analogs aft of us."

"And the two other ships?"

"The larger ones appear to be acting as carriers. They're literally throwing fighter analogs and similar sized missiles into the Victory destroyers."

Dorja looked at the status readouts on the Vic's. The shields were down to thirty percent on three of the ships and failing on the fourth.

"Helm... set a collision course for one of the interdictors, tell Cavalcade and the Victory destroyers to do the same."

"This is going to be messy sir."

"It's already messy Wintle. I'm trying to see that someone gets out of here alive."

The ISD's spun about, taking and giving more fire on their flanks as they turned.

"Tell the less damaged Vic's to hold back a bit and to ignore the carriers. If one of our Destroyer loses shields they're to make best speed into the nearest interdictor."

The first Victory Destroyer, it's hull flaming and badly deformed, struck it's target before exploding spectacularly. The Interdictor was cracked in two with bodies and debris streaming away in every direction. A second Vic, still being hit by the carriers struck it's target. The third destroyer had lost engines and was being picked apart.

"Tell Bier to fall back and cover us. And tell Cavalcade to get any shuttles off while they can."

Cavalcade flew past the broken Victory destroyer using it's now expanding debris cloud for cover. All remaining cannon and batteries fired wildly. The last of her starboard batteries disappeared under fire from the cruiser analog and a trailing frigate, but the port shields held long enough for her to put two devastating broadsides into one carrier.

One last transmission came from the ship on an open frequency; 'For the Empire.'

Then her bow hit her target. The starboard supports buckled more quickly than the port and the Destroyer crumpled in on it's side as the bow stabbed into the heart of the enemy ship. The Sublight drives sputtered out and failed to explode.

"Hit that last interdictor with everything we have left!"

Ardent and Bier were being hit from all sides by fighters. Two assault shuttles dropped from the main bay, headed straight for the interdictor. About halfway to the ship, space troopers launched from the shuttles, firing torpedoes and E-webs.

"What are those shuttles doing?"

"They're carrying Nergon-14 charges!" Shouted Wintle over increasing damage alarms.

A void opened in front of the assault shuttles but the quick thinking crews detonated their explosives before the ships could be dragged in. Two large fireballs expanded, then were sucked into the defensive void.

"Gravity well intensity has dropped by half sir." Reported sensors. "Their interdiction field may be tied to their defences."

"Gunnery concentrate on their bow."

Gaps were starting to appear in the Ardent's shields. Plasma flames from fighters were burning holes in the topside hull. Turbo laser bolts still poured forth from both remaining Destroyers as they closed with the last interdictor. The interdictor started taking hits with increasing frequency, it's voids tiring under the stress.

"Interdictor is retreating sir, their Grav-well is down."

"Helm give us a course roughly sixty degrees up from our current axis and prepare a hyperspace jump. We need to get out of range of the Carriers. Any Hyperspace capable fighters are to get out now."

The two ships pulled away, the Carriers raking their undersides with fire while the Frigate analogs continued to pound the aft shields. The Victory Destroyer's aft shields finally fell, allowing direct hits to the engines.

"The Bier has lost it's port engine. They're turning to hold our back."

The smaller Destroyer had just completed it's turn when it was hit by the combined fire of six ships. The port side soon was ripped open like it had been made out of flimsiplast.

"Helm, jump us out at your earliest available moment." The wreckage of the Bier wouldn't give them much cover for long, they needed to jump and now.

"Hyperspace jump in ten seconds."

"The fighters sir?" Asked the Commander.

"We have thirty thousand people on this ship." Was Dorja's only reply.

The other man nodded in understanding.

"Three... Two... one..."

The stars elongated for the second or so hyperspace jump that dropped them at the edge of the system.

003


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

"Hyperspace capable fighters are to jump out-system immediately." Came the Flight controller's voice.

Jag knew what that meant right away. _They're going to leave the other fighters._

"Remaining Gauntlets, try to get to the nearest Blastboats! Use the underside docking mount to hitch a ride if you can."

Jag and his wing mate blasted through another fighter that had been moving in to harass the Skipray they had been covering. "Dev, I want you to dock with that Skipray, I'll cover."

"Negative sir, I've been hulled by debris. No atmosphere in the cockpit."

With no atmosphere in the TIE cockpit a pilot wouldn't be able to withstand the cold of space for very long, even with their flight suit intact.

"Get going sir, before the Skipray jumps."

With out any choice Jag goosed the thrusters swinging his Tie in below the Skipray then thrusting up just enough to connect with the docking connector.

Dev's Tie turned and headed straight for a group of six incoming fighters. Three sensor blips blinked out before the Skipray entered hyperspace.

* * *

"Shields are back up to ten percent and the bridge tower shields are mostly intact. There are thirty medium sized hull breaches and fifty small hull ruptures, the largest of which are clustered near the main reactors. Half of the weapons are operational, none of the Quad lasers survived. Hypercom can't connect to any of the main relays and sensors have taken damage as well.

Lastly, several of our Blastboats and fighters have emerged from hyperspace relatively close by sir. Some of the Blastboats are carrying Tie's on their docking connectors."

Dorja rubbed his temples as he listened to the Commander's report.

"Get the Ties onboard. What's that status of our hyperdrives?"

"Operational. The hyperdrives did suffer damage but the engineering crews are still determining how much."

"We'll have to risk another jump. I'm amazed we haven't been pursued already."

"Cavalcade didn't explode sir. It's possible they could be combing the wreckage for survivors."

"There's nothing we could do for them if anyone survived. Plot a series of jumps to take us back to the Battle Group rendezvous point. Jump as soon as the Tie's are aboard... and have the highest ranking pilot still alive report to my office."

With that Dorja turned and strode from the command platform back to his ready room.

* * *

Six Tie series craft entered the main bay of the once mighty Imperial Two Star Destroyer Ardent. One scarred Tie Interceptor and five almost equally battered Tie Gauntlets were all that remained.

Jag had seen the rips in the Destroyer's hull and other damage on approach. Most ships he had seen in this condition had been used as gunnery target practice for the Super Star Destroyer crews. The main bay had taken little damage but it still had a haunting sensation to it. Never in his career had he seen a Star Destroyer's bay so empty of fighters.

As he popped the hatch upon landing, twice the usual number of techs scrambled over to inspect the fighter. He barely had time to climb down to the deck before a voice ushered from the overhead speakers.

"All hands stand by for hyperspace entry. Will the ranking pilot please report to the bridge. Ranking pilot report to the bridge."

Jag glanced between the other pilots that had made it. Two were flight officers and the others Lieutenants. He pointed to a senior Lieutenant from one of the other ships. "You, find out how many reserve or replacement pilots there are on Ardent and ask the techs about spare fighters. I'm needed on the bridge." With that Jag moved off towards one of the turbolifts as fast as protocol would allow.

004


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

The soft but fast clicks of boots on the deck plates heralded Jag's approach.

"Major." Saluted Commander Wintle. "The Admiral is waiting for you in his ready room." He gestured to a door off the starboard aft portion of the bridge.

"You can go right in."

Jag had barely walked through the door and was just beginning another salute when the Admiral spoke.

"Have a seat Major."

Once he was seated Dorja slid a small crystal shot glass across the desk toward him then raised his own.

"I'm promoting you to Colonel and placing you in command of our starfighter forces Mr. Fel. Normally I'd say congratulations but these arn't the best circumstances." The Admiral downed his glass then continued.

"I want your insight on these new enemies."

Jag paused long enough to compose himself before starting in. "They are not invincible, which should help morale in the long run."

"Yes. We did prove that much. Four enemy ships destroyed but at the cost of five Destroyers."

"I believe our starfighter squadrons could match them if properly trained to counter their tactics, but we would need a numerical superiority of three to one."

"The new Tie Gauntlets seemed to fare well. If we were to face them with a majority of advanced fighters?"

"The odds would be closer to two to one then. The shield stripping tactics of theirs will eventually break the inertial compensators of a fighter. Missiles seem to be quite useless against their defences, only massed fire seemed to work for us. Firing too many shots for their voids to intercept all of them."

"Did you see any evidence that their defences might be linked to their propulsion?"

"Hard to say sir. Most of us were manoeuvring at lower speeds or pacing the Blastboats."

"When we stared scoring heavier hits on the last interdictor the gravity well began to decrease in intensity. If we could find a way to use this against them..."

"We could request a Dominator from the nearest over sector fleet. That would be one way to prove the hypothesis."

Dorja threw his head back and laughed. "Major..." The Admiral closed his eyes for a second. "Colonel, I'll be lucky if I lose just my command for this debacle. I've been a cautious Commander my entire career and the only reason I've made it this far is because I get results. Sometimes it takes a little bit longer but I never lose ships."

He stood, straightened his uniform, then looked at a display screen on the wall.

"Today I was overconfident in the abilities of my fleet... and it got them killed."

"Permission to speak freely sir?" Asked Jag.

"Go ahead."

"You did what you could to save as many Imperial lives as possible. It's possible none of us would have escaped. More than thirty thousand people survived today because of you. Thirty thousand people who have an idea how to fight this enemy."

005


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

"Hyperspace signature detected aft."

"They followed us through another jump." Commented Wintle, before the bridge shook from the impact of plasma weapons hitting the shields.

"Ranged shot, superficial shield damage."

They had performed more than a dozen jumps over the past two days. Most of the bridge crew besides the navigator and helmsman had lost track of where they were.

"What are we looking at this time?" Asked the Admiral.

"This system seems to have a series of very dense debris belts in the middle to inner system." Replied the Commander.

"It'll do. Helm plot a course to take us through the densest sections of the belts then a slingshot trajectory around the star."

"Aye sir."

"We have incoming Shards. Four squadrons." The few pilots remaining had taken to calling the enemy fighters 'shards' since they had so easily and repeatedly been mistaken for asteroid fragments at Bastion. Techs had been working non-stop, upgrading target recognition programs to pick out the similar yet slightly variable shapes of the fighters.

"Tell Colonel Fel to hold his launch until they get within one thousand kilometres. Status of the Capital ships?"

If possible the Capital ships varied between each other even more than the fighters. Some of the same basic type might have what looked to be a large well healed scar while another might have a bulge in the hull filled with plasma emitters. Then there were the coral like outgrowths which not only had more weapons most of the time, but acted as a docking array for more fighters.

"One Carrier, three Cruiser analogs and two Frigate analogs. The same ones from Bastion again sir. Wait, correction. I'm now detecting what appear to be corvette analogs. Two of them."

_Sithspit. _Dorja cursed inwardly.

"Time to intercept?"

"The Corvettes and the damaged cruiser analog will reach us just after we enter the belt. The others are only matching our speed."

* * *

Eight Tie craft launched from the main bay of Ardent, six Gauntlets and two Interceptors. The tech crews had been able to fabricate two more starfighters using spare parts and other materials kept aboard to replace losses.

"All fighters stay in formation until we reach the belt. Use your speed and maneuverability to your advantage. If you take damage then return to the ship, we cant afford vehicle losses this time."

The ties held back with the Ardent until the incoming fighters reached weapons range. The Destroyer's few aft batteries opened up to support the Ties, then the two lines of fighters were swarming toward and around each other. The two Interceptors each stayed near a shielded Gauntlet pair, using the other ships for cover if needed.

Instead of missile pods the Gauntlets had been fitted with an additional tie solar array wing and laser cannon bumping the total cannon up to six. Using single fire the outfitted ties were bound to score a hit on the enemy fighters eventually just through sheer total fire. Despite the obviously incredible flying talent these remaining pilots had it didn't take long before they started to take damage.

* * *

"Entering the belt." Reported the Commander. "We are now within weapons range of the Cruiser analog but the enemy fighters harassing us may prevent them from firing."

"Good, we needed a break." Dorja marched up to the forward viewports to get a better view. "Use the tractor beams to try and redirect some of the asteroids that we pass. Try and drop them into the cruiser's flight path."

After a moment studying the floating rocks and debris ahead he spoke again. "Tell our people to mind the asteroids and not to fall behind."

The bridge began to shake continuously under hits from enemy fighters.

"We cant keep taking hits like this sir." Whispered Wintle to Dorja.

"I know that Commander but we need to find the perfect... there!"

The Admiral, stabbed a finger at a particular group of asteroids on the scanner displays.

"Helm! Swing us close to those larger asteroids twenty degrees to port, then put our engine wash over them."

"Another plan?"

"Something I saw a smuggler do once. Prepare to direct all shields aft and put available power to engines."

* * *

Four Ties still looped and fought with four times their number of shards. The others had withdrawn to the Ardent after taking damage. Most of the pilots concentration now was on keeping fighters away from the Main landing bay. One shard had already entered the bay while an Interceptor was landing. The interceptor pilot had spotted the shard in time to shoot it down but debris had blown a hole in the top of the bay.

"Ardent to Fel. Colonel, keep your fighters away from the aft end of the ship. We're expecting heavy incoming fire."

"Understood." Replied Fel as he dodged around a large rock and back toward the bay.

"Changing course forty one mark twenty seven. Bringing sublight drives to one hundred and five percent." Reported the helmsman.

"Directing weapons power to engines and shields. Doubling aft shields." Said the operations officer seconds later.

The deck vibrated under the strain of the engines.

Dorja looked over to Wintle "Here's where the fun begins Commander. Hang on to something."

"Incoming fire from the cruiser."

"Brace!"

The bridge shook heavily as the plasma struck the reinforced shields.

Behind them the ship's engine wash began heating the cluster of asteroids.

"The fighters have withdrawn to a safe distance."

"More good news. Sensors status on the asteroids."

"The... the asteroids are deforming, they're... They're exploding sir! Debris is hitting the Cruiser and corvette analogs."

"That'll do then." Said Dorja sounding wearied. "Bring the fighters back aboard and get us out of here."

"Permission to throttle down to safe levels sir?"

"No, continue to pour on the speed until we're in mid slingshot around this system's star. Once we're out of sensor contact with the enemy change course and enter hyperspace on a different heading."

Wintle caught on right away. "If they follow the course set by our slingshot they'll end up jumping to a totally different system."

"Exactly. But only if it works. Despite that last trick these people don't seem like fools."

"Cruiser analog has broken up sir. Fighters are retreating to the carrier."

006


	7. Chapter 7

+++ 

"From what we have been able to determine, the alien fleet is no longer perusing us."

"Now all we need to do is get back to the fleet, Commander."

Dorja paced behind his desk, something he never would have allowed himself to do on the bridge. "A good three weeks in a repair dock and a wing of starfighters are all we need before getting back into the action. If I'm able to retain my command that is."

"You have a loyal Imperial crew Admiral. Everyone I've spoke to believes you'll get us back to the fleet."

"Thank you Commander. Now, we need to find a way station of some kind with more supplies. There are only so many hyperlanes from Bastion and it's surrounding sectors back to our rendezvous point. There is a good bet that those lanes could be watched and we wouldn't stand a chance in a straight up fight. How close are we to Yaga Minor?"

Wintle leaned forward and sorted through several hardcopy star charts then compared them to his datapad. "We can get there in two jumps. Say eighteen hours if we don't lose any more hyperdrive efficiency."

"Equip two of the Gauntlets with hyperdrives, one of them with a recon package. We'll drop out between systems, say twelve light hours out. Then the recon fighters go in." 

+++ 

Jag Fel's fighter dropped out of hyperspace followed shortly after by his wing mate Tarth Elsin. Jag's fighter had been fitted with two high power sensor pods on it's hard points. External belly tanks had been fitted to increase the range of the fighters. Since the hyperdrive module used the same port that the shield module normally did Jag's fighter had reduced defences.

Tarth's fighter had one of the prototype combined shield/missile pods equipped but the shields were only half the normal power. The other mount had a wing laser, giving the fighter an off balance look. If they were attacked Jag would have to rely on his wing mate for support.

To add insult to injury the Tie's lasers had to the powered down while the sensors were in use as their emissions caused interference.

They had entered the system at the orbital distance of the system's largest gas giant. The planet was on the far side of the system at this point of it's orbit.

"Anything on the sensors yet sir?" asked Tarth who had wisely switched to burst transmission.

"Not at the moment, they're taking a bit to warm up. Loop out to thirty kilometres to be sure you're not interfering with my scans."

"Aye sir."

After a minute of silence the sensors finished coming up to full power. Jag focused the sensors in on Yaga Minor hoping to find signs the shipyard was still intact. At this range even the high powered sensors could distinguish little. The planet itself was covered in thick clouds obscuring the view of the planet below. He keyed his com.

"Tarth, do you know what kind of weather is normal for Yaga Minor?"

"Not really sir, I'm from Tynna. The only other worlds I know much about are in the core."

"I can't find any signs of the shipyard from here, but I'm betting it's already been taken out. I can't even find any navigational beacons."

"We arn't in any gravity wells here. We could try to raise someone on the com and if any trouble shows up we jump to hyperspace."

"You plot a jump for us while I try communications." The whole situation struck Jag as odd. If Yaga Minor had been attacked then they should have been able to raise the small base at Garqi. That should have sent word back to a dozen worlds and brought a much faster response even with the holonet transceivers being ravaged. Despite all of this Bastion had been able to get off a distress signal that reached a fleet group. It was still odd.

He set the gain on the communications systems to maximum and keyed it on. "This is Colonel Jag Fel to any Imperial forces in the Yaga Minor system, please respond. Any Imperial vehicles or vessels respond please."

The com remained silent except for background radiation.

"Sir." came Tarth's voice. "I've got the jump plotted."

"We'll wait a minute." Jag responded before switching back to the high gain signal. "This is Colonel Jag Fel off of the Star Destroyer Ardent. Any Imperial survivors please respond..."

A light crackle issued through the com unit for a moment then subsided. Seconds later the crackle reappeared, again disappearing seconds later. The third time the crackling sounded very much like Imperial encryption code but was still so garbled that that the computer could make no sense out of it.

Then the sensors pinged with an IFF contact. 

"I've got something coming up out of the gas giant's atmosphere. The IFF looks Imperial but it might be a trap, get ready to jump."

"Th-- i- L---t--an-- C--and-- Dav-- of--he V---icat-- C--ise-- Se--na--"

"I don't think it's a trap sir."

"Keep your hand on the hyperdrive lever either way."

"T--s is Lieutenant C----ander Davis of t--- ----dicator Cruiser Sev---r to Impe--al resc-- party plea-- respon-. I repeat, this is L-eutenant Comm-nder Davis of t-e Vindicator Cruiser Sevana-. Imperial rescue party please respond."

Jag directed the com toward the gas giant. There was no point in having the entire system listening in if he needed to give co-ordinates.

"This is Colonel Fel. It's good to hear you Commander."

"It's good to be heard Colonel. Some of us were starting the wonder if the fleet would ever come for us. Two weeks can feel like a long time."

So can five days, thought Jag. "Commander, can you tell us how you were hit?"

"It was odd, we had some kind of weird Mynock infestation. They started chewing on the communications arrays, then there was an asteroid bombardment."

"Asteroid bombardment?"

"Yeah. The ships in orbit tried to force them off with tractor beams and then lasers but they just kept accelerating. Once the orbital platforms and the shields had been hit these weird ships made of processed rock showed up. Before we knew it the big Destroyers all lost their shields. The carriers were all hit before they could prep droid fighters."

"Why didn't you jump to Garqi to warn the fleet?"

"We were on the wrong side of the system and more gravity wells were appearing every minute. We wouldn't have survived a jump."

"Fine. Commander when you get out of the Gas Giant's Gravity-well jump your ship roughly towards Bastion for a distance of twelve light hours. Understood?"

"Acknowledged."

007


	8. Chapter 8

+++ 

"Hyperspace signatures detected at one hundred thousand kilometres." Reported the sensors officer.

"Helm, are we ready to jump?" Asked Wintle.

"Aye sir. We can jump to hyperspace with ten seconds notice."

The doors to the Admiral's ready room hissed open and Dorja strode out onto the bridge. "What do we have Commander? Is it the recon flight?"

Wintle turned his attention back to the sensors officer.

"Sensors, what have we got?"

"Something cruiser sized coming in. I've got our recon fighters..." The officer paused to double check the board then continued. "And a… Vindicator class cruiser. IFF shows her as the Sevanar, part of Yaga Minor's patrol fleet."

"Any more contacts?" Questioned the Admiral.

"No sir."

"We are being hailed sir."

"I'll take it at the aft bridge station." Replied Dorja turning towards the back of the bridge. "Patch Colonel Fel in while you're at it."

He reached the terminal in a handful of strides and activated the holopad.

"This is Admiral Dorja, to whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?

"Lieutenant Commander Mynar Davis sir."

"What's the status of Yaga Minor and your ship Commander?"

"The Sevanar is fully operational, our complete starfighter compliment is still intact. As for Yaga Minor we don't fully know what state it's in."

"If I may sir?" broke in Jag.

"Go ahead Colonel."

"The entire fleet and the shipyards except for the Sevanar must have been destroyed sir. There were no contacts remaining in orbit nor were there any navigational beacons left. The planet is shrouded in heavy cloud cover and I wasn't about to go any closer to the planet after what happened at Bastion."

"Understood. Any orbital debris whatsoever?"

"No sir. It must have been pushed into the atmosphere."

"...Commander Davis, Colonel Fel, I want you both aboard the Ardent within the hour. I'm calling a planning briefing. Commander, transfer a squadron of Interceptors to the Ardent when you come aboard. Have the head of your fighter wing at the briefing. Dorja out." 

+++ 

The Sevanar came along side Ardent, taking up position to port of the larger ship. Several things about the ship were confusing Davis. The larger Destroyer didn't maintain a CAP of hyperdrive equipped fighters like most did. It was also odd that there were no support cruisers for a ship with an Admiral aboard.

Everything started to become clear when his shuttle approached Ardent's landing bay. Holes the size of Blastboats peppered the hull, and one great tear in the hull was nearly the size of his ship's command tower. There was a starfighter sized crater in the ceiling of the main landing bay. Besides all of that, the main bay was very nearly empty. The shuttle set down just as the squadron of Interceptors entered the bay, headed for the landing racks.

When he reached the bottom of the shuttle's landing ramp there was a junior Imperial Army officer and four Stormtroopers standing at attention. The army officer waited until the Sevanar's starfighter commander joined Davis at the bottom of the ramp before speaking.

"Welcome aboard the Ardent sirs. I'll direct you to the briefing room where the Admiral is waiting."

"Lead on." Replied Davis, returning the salute. 

+++ 

Dorja sat at the head of a large table with Wintle on his left and Jag on his right. The Stormtrooper commander entered, taking a seat next to Jag, then a minute later Commander Davis and his CAG entered. Dorja waited until they were all seated then began.

"Gentlemen we are facing an enemy quite unlike anything the Empire has encountered before. They use strange technology and tactics almost unheard of. Yaga Minor has been cut off for close to three standard weeks. In that time no communications reached the fleet groups of other nearby sectors. Pirates and insurgents have crippled the holonet where they could in co-ordinated strikes.

Commander Davis, when exactly did the battle at Yaga Minor occur?"

"Approximately eighteen days ago."

"The last registered communications out of Garqi were twenty days ago. Our engagement at Bastion took place five days ago now. How long after Bastion was first hit did we arrive there?"

Wintle scrolled through his datapad then looked up. "We estimate three or four days previous to our arrival, but those could be off by as much as a day."

"So we have a large fleet hitting the shipyard and the surrounding systems then relocating to Bastion. It's possible they have hit the inhabited systems between those two worlds and those with hyperlanes leading out of the area. Commander Davis, did you bring your sensor reconds of the battle?"

"Yes Admiral. Because of our position they are not the most accurate though."

Davis plugged his datapad into the holopad that made up the center of the table. A slightly grainy image appeared showing the rocky ovoid shapes that the Ardent's crew had become familiar with.

"Once the asteroid bombardment was finished we were able to pick out the ships from the rocks. There were two big ones both larger than an Imperator, and four the size of Mon Cal cruisers."

"Sounds like the Carrier group that tried to interdict us as Bastion." said Wintle.

"There were more ships through the system." Continued Davis. "Interdictors. We picked them up when we tried to plot a jump to Garqi. A whole string of them across the other side of the system."

"Were you able to get visual confirmation on any of the other interdictors Commander?"

"No Sir. We had watched the opening phase of the battle through video feeds from the shipyards. When the Destroyers all went down in the first volley I decided it wasn't worth losing the ship by jumping into a one sided a battle like that. When we couldn't jump out I ordered us into the gas giant's atmosphere. It's not designed for it but a Vindicator can stay alive in the atmosphere for quite some time. I figured that given enough time either an Imperial response force would come or they would move their interdictors."

Dorja thought for a moment, staring at the images on the holo projector. Davis might have been charged with cowardice in the face of the enemy by other Commanders or Admirals. He'd seen men executed for less in the Imperial Navy. But the young man had essentially made the same choice he had at Bastion and now the Empire had information on how two fleet actions had taken place.

"Commander I think you did the right thing. Judging by the gravity well readings you might have been facing as many as six Cruiser Analogs if you had jumped. On top of that you had no idea how the enemy systems worked. You surely would have been destroyed."

"Thank you sir."

"Now, how do these enemy systems work? We have some basic defences that let us stay alive long enough to run. We need more."

Wintle cleared his throat. "I've had a group of junior officers working on analysing everything that happened at Bastion. Some of the spare relief pilots helped as well. Everything points to a powerful combined gravity control system. It can be used for propulsion, for defence by forming microscopic singularities, for offence by striping a target ship of it's shields, and lastly for interdiction. We can use inertial compensators to prevent shields striping but it puts a great deal of strain on the system.

One of the pilots suggested using laser cannon shots to spread out the void defences for the heavier Turbolaser shots."

The Stormtrooper commander spoke up. "Sir's I watched the sensor feeds when the Assault Shuttles made their run. For all we know the ship might be one giant projector, there could be no limit to the number of voids they put up."

It was Jag's turn this time. "The fact that mass fire tactics have worked at all suggest that they might only be able to block so many shots at a time. If we were to equip fighters with additional lower power cannon it might allow the heavier bolts through more often."

"Talk to the flight techs about it after the meeting Colonel." Suggested Dorja. "If you feel it's worth the risk to try, go ahead. Now, their plasma weaponry."

Wintle resumed. "It looks to be rock superheated to a plasma state. Shields can handle it as if it were normal Turbolaser shots, but they become very dangerous if we lose shields. Once it impacts the hull it can continue melting it's way through until it cools enough. The only real defence we have is keeping the shields up."

"Fine. What about those carriers. We saw them launching larger objects before."

"We believe those were unmanned fighters or some kind of directed cruise missiles." Wintle keyed the holoprojector to the appropriate scene. "As you can see here this Carrier is literally throwing starfighters or similar sized chunks into a Destroyer. We took a half dozen hits from these as well. A correctly placed salvo of these might be able to take down a destroyer's weapons on one side."

"Anything we can do about them?"

"Push them away with tractor beams and have fighters shoot them down. As these large missiles are also propelled by the same kind of gravitic system as the other ships, they have the same singularity defences."

Groans of frustration issued from both starfighter pilots present.

008 


	9. Chapter 9

+++ 

"So potentially anything Rimward of the Atrivis sector may have been taken." Dorja summed up.

"Potentially." Agreed Wintle. "We still don't know if they're coming out of the Unknown Regions or from the Rim. That Yaga Minor was hit first would suggest the Unknown Regions."

"If we knew they were coming in from the Unknown Regions we could swing back around Bastion and over to Helska. Likewise if we knew they were coming from the Rim we could get out by way of Nirauan. Either way could be useless."

"We could scout a route through Dantooine and over to Gravlex Med." Suggested Commander Devis. "Both systems are uninhabited, and we might find some abandoned ship repair facilities at the latter."

"Is there anything at Dantooine?" Asked Fel.

"No." Dorja was quick to reply. "There was a Rebel base there some thirty years ago. It was already abandoned before we found it."

"Would these aliens use it?"

"We haven't even seen them take any planets yet. Just bombard them." Stormtrooper head Taulen interjected.

Dorja waved everyone quiet.

"In either case the Raioballo Sector would seem like a good place to break through. The sector has enough population that they have a full size sector fleet. If even a fraction of them have survived we'll have a large enough fighting force to get back to the Mid Rim. Commander Devis what do you have in the way of scout craft?"

"We have six old Star Wing Assault Gunboats sir."

"We'll have our hyperspace jumps end short by a few minutes and send two Gunboats in ahead of us. Let's get moving." 

+++ 

It didn't take long for the Admiral to find a flaw in using the old Gunboats as scouts. Their sensor packages had not been upgraded in more than ten years and were woefully short ranged. The Ardent didn't carry sensor equipment for these older model fighters, only tie craft or Blastboats.

"Alien Cruiser Analog and two Frigate Analogs detected in orbit of Dantooine." Reported sensors once they had dropped out of hyperspace.

"Have they seen us?"

"It doesn't look like it. They appear to be sending landing craft down to the surface."

"Make a note of where they're sending down troops. We may be back in a few weeks to... investigate."

Wintle walked up to the Admiral's position at the forward view ports. "I'm sure Mr. Taulen would be interested in volunteering for that mission if given the chance sir."

"He just wants to fight something on solid ground. He's not Spacetrooper qualified or he would have been out with the Assault Shuttles at Bastion."

"Jumping to Gravlex Med in ten seconds... nine... eight..." 

+++ 

Hours later with four jumps behind them the Ardent and Sevanar reverted to real space in the middle of the Anx Minor system.

"No contacts in system."

Wintle checked over the sensor boards then looked to Dorja.

"Awfully quiet sir."

The older man nodded. "Status of the ship docks?"

"They're all powered down. No activity. No life signs."

"We'll have to chance it. Have Colonel Fel take a recon flight and make a visual inspection of the station." 

+++ 

The two Capital ships were approaching the outer edges of Gravlex Med's gravity well when Fel's Tie flight reached the station.

"It looks to be in bad shape Admiral. Most of the slipways and docking arms are damaged. One third of the station is open to space. External cargo modules have been left empty or blown open. All weapons emplacements look as if they were destroyed by Tie fighter attack runs." 

Dorja turned to Wintle. "Rebels hijacked the Chimaera from here years ago. The platform wasn't worth repairing so it was decommissioned. Sometimes training squadrons jump out here and practice strafing runs."

"I couldn't argue if another squadron was to show up Sir."

Jag's voice came over the com again.

"We found a slip that might be able to handle the Ardent. It's only partially damaged and the surrounding sections still have some atmosphere."

"I want troopers and repair teams assessing that dock ASAP. Launch our fighters, they're to perform a CAP, but keep Gauntlet flight two in the forward launch bay. Have the other fighters dock aboard the Sevanar when needed. Inform Commander Davis to position his ship just outside the gravity well of the planet and to scan for incoming ships." 

+++ 

Within two hours the Star Destroyer had been swung into position and backed into the remaining functional slipway on the station. Crews were already moving the giant docking and construction arms into place. The crews already knew their orders; get the hull patched as fast as possible. These repairs were to be quick and dirty.

"The repair teams have found spare parts for Tie craft as well as lasers and Turbolaser assemblies. They were deeper inside the station in sections not damaged by strafing."

"Any estimates for patching the worst of the hull breaches? We can always fit the Turbolasers while in deep space."

Wintle scanned his datapad for the total time estimates.

"The crew chiefs are looking at five hours minimum. Normally this would be a job taking weeks sir."

"I know Commander. Time estimates if we were to fit the Turbolasers?"

"It would push time requirements up to twelve hours if there weren't any delays. So say fourteen with delays factored in."

"I want contingency plans made for evacuating our people from the station if we have to get out in a hurry."

"We have that in place sir. We moved an AT-AT barge and two shuttles over to the station."

Dorja smirked.

"It seems as if you have everything in order here Commander. I'll be in my ready room. Inform me if anything changes." 

+++ 

Half way into the repair work one of the sentry pilots uttered the words everyone had been dreading.

"Enemy contact detected. We have incoming fighters."

Wintle didn't even wait to find out what the enemies were. "Admiral to the bridge!" He called out then started checking on the repair progress. The repair teams were one quarter of the way into welding on a large piece of armour plate near the reactors. They couldn't stop and leave it half finished.

Dorja stormed onto the bridge at that point looking half asleep.

"What do we have and where are they coming from?"

"The contacts are coming up from the planet."

"I thought the planet wasn't habitable."

"It isn't habitable sir." Insisted Wintle.

"Put the contacts on the screen. Sensors what are they?"

"They're coming in fast. A-wing class. We now have Rebel IFF contacts. Looks like three full squadrons."

009


	10. Chapter 10

+++ 

"Have the hanger crew equip the second Gauntlet flight with missiles. Pull the interceptors back. Those little shooting stars can be death on Interceptors if we give them a chance. Raise shields and extend them around our slipway."

Turbo lasers that could still fire despite the docking arms were crewed. Shields began to power up. Stormtroopers armed with shoulder fired missiles and torpedoes clambered into position on the outside of the station.

"The missile equipped Gauntlets will be ready in three minutes."

Admiral Dorja picked up him com. "Colonel Fel, try to keep as many of our pilots and fighters alive as possible."

"Understood Admiral. Shielded fighters up front. We'll break their formation for the Interceptors to jump them."

+++ 

The scratch built A-wing fighters were closing fast. Using their impressive speed to try and gain any advantage. At maximum range half of the tiny fighters fired concussion missiles. 

"Break! Break!" Yelled out a half dozen pilots over the com.  
"Fold formation!" Came Fel's distinctive voice. "Use lasers to shoot down the missiles!"

A flurry of laser and ion Cannon fire started, then ball explosions began appearing.  
The designators for one Gunboat and four Interceptors blinked out before the two lines of fighters crossed and merged into a rolling dogfight. One full squadron of A-wings blasted right through the engagement, lasers firing, and out toward the shipyard.

The Gunboats fired torpedoes after the A-wing squadron before having to break off. Half the Rebel squadron fell back, targeting the missiles with lasers. At the same time Gauntlet Flight One broke free of the main engagement and headed after the squad. The trailing A-wing group had just destroyed the last torpedoes when Jag Fel's flight caught up to them.  
Three of the Rebel fighters never survived the first pass, the six laser cannon on each Gauntlet fast chewing through their weak shields. The return fire punched through a Gauntlet's shields and sheared off a wing sending it out of control.

There wasn't time for Jag's flight to stop and dogfight with the survivors. They had to get ahead and stop the other A-wing group. The three A-wings were about to turn in pursuit when the missile locks of Gunboats drew their attention again. 

+++ 

"Time until Flight two launches?" Asked Dorja.  
"Thirty seconds."

Out ahead of the Destroyer six A-wings fired Heavy Rockets and Torpedoes.

"Gunnery-"   
"Already on them sir."

Turbolasers opened fire on the missiles. Most of the bolts missed and those that did hit struck the slower Heavy Rockets. Six Torpedo detonations blossomed against the forward shields.  
"Dropping Ventral shields for fighter launch."  
Four Gauntlets armed with missile pods dropped fast from the forward launch bay. Before the Destroyer's shields had even come back up the Ties were firing pairs of missiles at the Rebels. Each overlapping their missile fire.

The A-wings broke formation and spiralled down toward the new threat. Most fired lasers while dodging heavily, blasting the missiles or out maneuvering them. One unfortunate fighter caught six missiles simultaneously, turning into a bright orange fiery smear.

Instead of turning to shoot down the remaining missiles or battle the Gauntlet flight, the surviving Rebels all flew straight for the nearest points on the ship docks. They reached the nearest docking arms and hull sections just at the missiles caught up, and used them to block their line of sight. Bright ball explosions lit up the dock next to Ardent.

"Tell the Stormtroopers to stay alert. They may try terrain following tactics."

Gauntlet Flight One soon caught up with the second flight. "Break by pairs, one laser equipped fighter and one missile equipped fighter."   
Jag didn't sound happy from what the other pilots could tell.   
"We'll have to hunt them down."

Out at the main engagement the fighting was in a stalemate. Nearly a squadron of Interceptors was destroyed or so badly damaged they were out of the fighting. The A-wings would have had the advantage by now were it not for the Gunboats and the older Tie Avenger unit from Sevanar. 

"Colonel Fel, this is Admiral Dorja. No pressure but we're going to need help at the main engagement, and soon. Find those fighters."

+++ 

"No Pressure." Jag muttered under his breath.  
Sensors were going to be near useless here, but sure enough down below he could see a fighter making a surface run towards the Destroyer.

"Gee Five, on me." He called into the com letting his wing know to stay close. Then he heeled his fighter over and dove towards the likely intercept point. Before they could accurately judge where the A-wing was going to go, a Stormtrooper noticed the fighter and launched a missile at it.   
"Sithspit." Cursed Jag as the A-wing broke off, using a half melted communications array for cover.

They followed the fighter into a large empty slipway filled with broken or disintegrating docking arms. Instead of heading into the tangle of armatures the fighter instead flew through a blown out cargo hatch and into the station.

"Fel to Ardent. A-wings are inside the station. We are pursuing them."  
Com static increased as they entered the structure. For all he knew the Admiral could have ordered them out and they wouldn't know.

As they came around an intersection in the main cargo module conveyer way he spotted the A-wing up ahead. Artificial gravity still seemed to be on in places forcing them to bring up repulsors to stay in the middle of the corridor and limiting top speed. There were some sparks from ahead and the A-wing turned a corner.

"Prepare to increase speed once we get around the corner."

Before they reached the corner in question Jag noticed a particular piece of debris sitting on the floor of the conveyer way standing out. It was shinier than the surrounding carbon scored metals and debris. The Torpedo that the A-wing had dropped on a timer exploded.  
The forward shields disappeared off of both Gauntlets and debris pelted them. They missed the turn the first A-wing had taken and the corridor ahead was straight for some distance. Then laser bolts from a second A-wing hit their aft shields.

Jag swore again. If they turned in place in the narrow conveyer way the A-wing could shoot them through their unshielded front.  
"Increase speed!"   
With no other options Jag began firing lasers into the ceiling as they passed. Debris began raining down but the Tie's were moving fast enough to get under it before it could reach the floor. The A-wing was forced to either slow or risk running into half melted Durasteel support braces at several hundred meters per second. At the next intersection Jag and his wing went off in different directions. 

+++ 

"We've accounted for all but three of the A-wings attacking us sir." Reported Wintle. "And the surviving fighters at the main engagement are now running. Apparently they've seen that their attack squadron won't be able to harm the ship."

Dorja sighed.  
"Dispatch recovery shuttles. I want any extra starfighter debris, rebel or Imperial, brought aboard. We might be able to cobble a fighter out of it all. How many A-wings escaped?"

"Five out of the nearly two and a half squadrons in the main fight."

"And our vehicle losses?"

"Heavy. We're down to four Gunboats, four Avengers and six Interceptors. All of those are in need of repairs."

"Pilots?"

"Many of our Tie pilots managed to eject but neither of the Gunboat pilots survived."

"Find me some Rebel pilots Commander. I wouldn't mind having a talk with some. " 

010 


	11. Chapter 11

+++ 

The A-wing crept forward on it's repulsors. Floodlight, transponder, and active sensors powered down to prevent detection. Few of the overhead lights in the cargo corridors still worked after years of abandonment and those that did were very dim. Rays of light were reflected into parts of the station interior through holes in the hull. Shadows and debris made even intact walls seem ominous.

The pilot used maneuvering jets, thrusting forward instead of lighting up the powerful Novaldex engines and creating a visible light source. Something glinted in the shadows to the right. There was a hole in the wall that had been obscured because of the darkness. Inside was a cargo hold filled with old Tie parts. The pilot was about to continue forward again when he noticed that the blast marks surrounding the hole were much newer.

When the Rebel pilot turned to look more closely at the Tie parts Jag fired. Despite the closeness, the Gauntlet's laser convergence system put the linked fire from all six cannon in a fifty centimetre area.

Right through the cockpit bubble canopy.

The A-wing dropped to the floor, wisps of smoke trailing from it as escaping oxygen in the life systems allowed a small fire a few seconds of life.

Jag brought all of his systems back up and punched up power to the com system. "Fel to any Imperial units, scratch one Rebel."

"Copy that Colonel." Came the voice of one of his pilots, probably Tarth Elsin. The signal was faint and scratchy but still understandable. "We only have one more fighter to account for. The Admiral want's you to know tha-... Uh oh."

"Report Lieutenant."

"I found the last fighter... it's empty."

Jag scrolled through the command menu then locked onto the IFF signal Tarth's fighter was putting out.

"Hold your position, I'm coming to you. Can you describe the area?"

"It's off a tertiary intersection. A tight fit. The fighter is sitting in an abandoned machine shop. Let me just move my fighter to get a better look."

"Don't get yourself killed. Keep your eyes open."

"I've been scanning that area on full active. There is no one here. Oh my..." There was a pause of five or six seconds, each of which Jag expected to end with his pilot screaming for help.

"Sir It looks like the missile loading ports have been opened on the A-wing. It's a fairly large bore system, Heavy Rockets by the look of it. There are spent casings for two and room for two... maybe four more."

"I'm almost there. Is anything missing from the shop?"

"There... there is a patch of floor that's clear of debris. It looks about the size of a repulsor cart."

+++ 

Dorja fumed.

"Commander I want checks to be sure that everyone that goes aboard the station is armed and prepared for enemy contact. There may only be one Rebel aboard but that Rebel has weapons capable of seriously harming our ship."

"We've pulled some of the Stormtroopers that we had assigned to use missile launchers outside the station to patrol it's interior. Colonel Fel and his wing man are on their way back to the Ardent to rearm. He also reported another cash of Tie parts but they were much older than the others we've found."

"The stations and shipyards in this part of the galaxy used to keep a compliment of TIE/ln fighters before they were phased out. The Interceptors might not have been cheap enough for the station Commander at the time so he kept a stockpile. That's my theory."

"Sir, the Rebels use older model Tie craft sometimes if they can't build their own. We know there are elements hiding on the planet and that a Star Destroyer was hijacked from this station before it was decommissioned. They may have been maintaining this slipway for all these years."

"Training flights have strafed this station a hundred times. The instructors would notice if parts were repaired..." Dorja turned and gave the younger man a sideways glance. "Unless some of the instructors were traitors."

"I'll file an Intelligence report when we get back sir."

"With this new threat I doubt we'll ever spare the ships to properly search that planet for bases. We're certainly in no shape to start random bombardments and have a few squadrons swarm up at us."

"No sir."

The Admiral stood looking out the forward viewports at the toxic clouds shrouding the surface of the planet below.

"When the last of our damaged or destroyed vehicles have been recovered send a team to pick up the two A-wings in the station. One is supposed to be undamaged the other needing only minimal repair. If we have to we can press them into service."

+++ 

Wing pairs of Tie Gauntlet's flew patrols around the slipway and Ardent. Jag and his wingman had been ordered to land and get four hours sleep once they had returned from their search and destroy mission. Now they were back out on patrol while the other pilots took their short rest shift. It had been five hours since the last A-wing fighter had been found empty.

Jag and Tarth were waiting for clearance to go back into the station and begin a search for the Rebel. Before that happened the hanger techs had to finish repairs on some of the Interceptors to fly CAP in their place.

The repair work on the Ardent was becoming noticeable. Many of the largest gaps and holes in the hull had been covered by grey unpainted armour plate. Lower priority items like the hole in the ceiling of the main bay had not even been looked at yet.

The AT-AT crews, knowing they would be of little use in a space battle, had suggested mounting the heads of their vehicles in the holes left by the destroyed quad laser mounts. Given another thirty minutes the Ardent would have her external weapons increased by eight Laser Cannon. The now disabled vehicles were being cut into scrap to patch smaller holes if there was enough time.

With most of the raw materials now moved to the Ardent, or soon to be placed aboard, the station was fast becoming Stormtrooper territory. Somehow without the notice of the ship's senior officers the Troopers had moved two AT-ST's over to the station and set them up in the cargo mover corridors. The sight of the walkers inside the station had improved the morale of those still working inside, so the senior officers had decided to ignore how useless they would actually be.

An hour passed before messages started to come in on one of the main Stormtrooper Com bands.

"This is DV-493, I believe I've spotted the Rebel. I'm farther into the station, almost to the main axis."

The launch bay techs were still not finished the repairs to the Interceptors so Jag held his breath and waited.

"DV-493, attempt to capture the Rebel if you can. We have troops converging on your general area."

"Roger..." Reported the trooper. Within seconds he was back on. "Wait something is wrong."

A large explosion rocked the centerline of the station about where the trooper's transmission had been coming from. After that the transmissions became a mess.

"Rebel on a hover sled!"

"Fire!"

"AT-ST is moving up."

Flashes of cannon fire back-lit the interior through viewports and holes in the hull. There were dozens of blue flashes and then things began to quiet down.

+++ 

"Akeyiro Taulen to Ardent come in." Came the voice of the ship's trooper commander.

"This is Dorja go ahead." Replied the Admiral into his comlink.

"The station is secure. We have the Rebel... Alive."

011


	12. Chapter 12

+++ 

Another hour had passed since the Rebel had been captured. Dorja listened to Trooper Taulen's report over the com in his ready room.

"Casualties were not as bad as they could have been. One trooper killed and three others wounded. We were lucky that none of the other warheads on the hoversled exploded. An AT-ST driver had shot a big enough hole in the flooring in front of the cart that it couldn't avoid it. The driver was ejected from the sled from the impact then a dozen of my troopers stunned her."

"Fine. Start moving your men back to the ship. We're spending far too long here and pushing our luck. If any of your men can help with the repair work get them on it. If we aren't finished the basic repairs in six hours we are going to launch."

"Aye sir. I'll still keep a small force of my men posted through the station interior near the dock. I'll talk to the repair crew Chief about sending some Troopers to move the blast deflector panels into place. Should assist with a fast launch. Taulen out."

Once the channel had closed Dorja leaned back in his chair. He was getting too old for this. It hadn't even been a full day since they docked here yet it felt like they were never going to leave.

+++ 

Dorja woke with a start to the sounds of "Admiral to the Bridge" blaring over the inter-ship com. He had fallen asleep leaning back in his chair and had been that way for several hours.

The door to his ready room hissed open at his approach, a brisk stride fast getting him up to the command walkway.

Wintle turned to him as he approached. "Sevanar reports ships hypering into the system. Imperial and civilian IFF contacts."

"What kind of ships are they?"

"An older Destroyer... Right to Rule, a Carrack cruiser, Civilian passenger liners, freighters and light transport craft."

"Get me the Captain of that Destroyer."

"Channel open." called the com officer.

"This is the Destroyer Ardent hailing Right to Rule, please respond."

"This is Right to Rule, Captain Cheyden Graal commanding. We are escorting refugees fleeing the Raioballo sector."

Dorja gestured to his com and a second later the communications officer in the pit below gave a thumbs up.

"Captain this is Admiral Dorja. I need to know a number of things right away. First, are you being pursued?"

"Affirmative. We've been beating off attacks for days now. Ever since the sector fleet was wiped out. Some of the larger Civilian transports were able to lift in time so we have been attempting to cover their escape."

Dorja cursed to himself. They had probably lead a fleet right to them.

"Captain how far behind you do you think enemy forces are?"

"We navigated through a system full of high gravity worlds at sublight. It might have bought us an hour."

Dorja put his hand over the com pickup. "Commander have the repair teams finish anything that wont hold up to space flight but otherwise halt repairs and begin pulling in our people. Ready fighters. Have our CAP head out to the refugee fleet's position."

Dorja took his hand off the pickup and continued with the Destroyer's Captain. "Captain what do you have in the way of starfighters?"

"A squadron of shielded TIE/ln Fighters, a few Interceptors and four Defenders. The civilian ships have a few Uglies."

"And your ship's status?"

"We're a flying wreck. There are only two Turbolasers left and they're not working so well. We did figure out how to keep our shields from being ripped off. Came too late to save the sector fleet though."

"Captain we're going to link up with your convoy in a short while. Our escort will come out to provide you cover. Dorja out."

Wintle turned from the station he had been working at during the conversation. "Admiral, the repair teams report that they will have that last sections secured and be aboard within twenty minutes. All of the large and mid sized breaches have been patched."

"Start bringing the last of the Troopers aboard. Start disengaging the docking clamps. Launch all of our fighters when they're ready and send out Sevanar to guard those ships.

We are getting the hell out of here."

+++ 

"Space tight doors sealed. Disengaging docking clamps."

The twelve remaining heavy docking arms released and lifted up and away from the hull. Four on each side of the ship surrounded by space dock.

"Blast deflection plates are in place." Reported one of the remaining troopers on the station. "You are clear to engage sublight drives Ardent."

The helmsman must have been nervous about the impending arrival of enemy forces because within seconds of activation the drives had reached full power. The blast deflectors redirected the worst of the Destroyer's engine wash preventing damage to the station. Once Ardent had cleared the slipway the Destroyer began a hard turn to bring the nose of the ship away from the planet and around toward the convoy now moving across the system.

Minutes later an Assault shuttle left the station carrying the last Troopers and Technicians.

Dorja directed the badly damaged Right to Rule to take up the lead of the convoy while Ardent and the other military ships formed the rear guard. Many of the fighters from the convoy needed to be transferred to Sevanar for repairs as the older Destroyer had lost most of their machine shops during attacks.

Dorja wondered something about the refugees.

"Captain are all of the ships in the convoy from the Raioballo sector?"

"Not all of them. There are two ships from Dubrillion that joined our convoy at Dantooine."

"Did you encounter the three enemy ships that were in orbit of the planet?"

"No sir. There were no ships in the system when we arrived but they may have been on the far side of the planet. We were too busy trying to plot our next jump while we still had a head start."

"Commander we're jumping to Agamar correct?" Asked Dorja turning to find Wintle.

"Yes sir." Replied the younger man.

"How many lanes are there from this system to Agamar?"

"Direct routes sir? Just one."

"Find us another route, even if it takes three or four jumps."

The Commander nodded and moved off.

The sensors officer swivelled to face the senior officers. "Enemy contact detected. They've jumped in from Dantooine."

"I suggest you find that new route quickly Commander."

012


	13. Chapter 13

+++ 

"New Course plotted. All Civilian ships will be ready to jump in two minutes."

Dorja checked the chronometer then the rate of approach of the enemy ships. "We should be able to jump without any interference. Prepare to recover fighters."

"New enemy Contacts." Shouted the sensors officer.

Wintle checked over the sensor readouts. "One Cruiser and two Frigate Analogs moving to cut off the convoy. They jumped in from the main route to Agamar."

"What have we got behind us?"

"Three Frigate analogs, one Carrier and six corvettes. Fighters are closing from astern."

"Can we jump before the ships from ahead get within range?"

"Negative, they're generating a gravity well. It's edge is cutting off our new route."

They just didn't have the firepower to beat a cruiser and it's escorts before the other enemy ships caught up.

"Tell Right to Rule to abandon ship. They're so set a collision course for the Cruiser analog. Launch recovery vehicles. Helm, get us to the head of the convoy."

"The rear guard sir?"

"Sevanar and the light cruisers can hold them off long enough for us to jump."

Right to Rule and Ardent accelerated, the newer Destroyer fast overtaking the civilian liners and reaching the head of the convoy.

"Fighters arriving from ahead."

The Ardent's gunners opened fire on the starfighters. Green Turbolaser blasts flashing out at the advancing swarm of fighters.

Ahead the Right to Rule was launching escape pods, shuttles, transports, even crewmen in EVA suits. The Assault shuttles maneuvered to give cover fire to the less armed vehicles. Two Turbolasers fired from the battered hull, each shot being absorbed by the tiny voids protecting the Cruiser. Support fire from Ardent flashed all around the shields of the wounded Destroyer, scaring away fighters and keeping the attention of the Frigates.

Right to Rule still maintained maximum acceleration, reaching impressive speed for such an old ship. Fighters were firing on the ship's engines and all three enemy ships were pouring plasma into the forward shields. The shields finally failed and one giant ball of plasma stored up by the cruiser blew the command tower clean off.

At the last second the cruiser dropped it's gravity well and put all of it's strength to one giant singularity. The Destroyer's forward prow shrunk into the point where it contacted the mini black hole. Other parts of the ship were far enough away and moving with enough speed that they were thrown into a fast slingshot orbit. The aft hull of the Destroyer surrounding the engines was accelerated enough that the debris achieved escape velocity from the near edges of the hole. A wave of Star Destroyer debris whipped around the Cruiser Analog's own defences at close to light speed, literally shredding the alien ship's hull.

"Interdictor eliminated."

"Helm take us right down the middle between those two Frigates. Guns, take out those ships."

+++ 

The Imperial starfighters were outmatched more than two to one. They were so desperate that one of the pilots of a downed Interceptor had agreed to flying the captured A-wing. He was now single-handedly drawing the attention of more than a full squadron of shards, using the tiny fighter's incredible speed to dodge their attempts at catching him.

The A-wing lead a formation of shards right in front of the Assault Gunboats. A volley of torpedoes shook up the formation, destroying two fighters and leaving four others vulnerable to fire from the escorting Interceptors. Three more enemy fighters exploded from laser hits.

"Show off." Muttered Jag.

Even with that minor victory things were going badly. The shielded Tie fighters were forced to work in groups of four for their limited weapons to have any effect. Each Defender was working with an Avenger and an Interceptor making things interesting. The Gauntlets were flying in pairs, giving assistance to the other fighters were they could and trying to chase shards away from the civilian ships.

Things became an even bigger mess when escape pods and recovery vehicles from the Right to Rule began to arrive. The Assault and Lambda shuttles were able to provide some help though. Then plasma fire from two fighters punched through the top wing of a Lamb and sent it spinning out of control. The tractor beam on an Action Transport caught the shuttle and pulled it inside it's shields.

Up ahead two emerald green cones of fire marked the Ardent's position as she started slugging it out with two Frigate analogs. At the back of the convoy the aft Turbolasers of Sevanar were starting to take pot shots at the three oncoming Frigates. The two light cruisers were starting to move farther up, trying to clear away the worst concentrations of enemy fighters.

Jag and his wing dove straight into a formation of shards lining up for an attack run on the largest of the civilian liners. The sudden attack forced the group to break off and spiral around trying to find the Gauntlets. Instead of continuing on in a straight line Jag brought them around a Star Galleon and in behind one of the groups of fighters that had split off. One Shard exploded under the cycling fire of the two fighters and the other shards broke off.

The other two smaller formations were now on an intercept course with the Gauntlets, firing a hail of small plasma shots at them. One shot slammed into shields and another nicked a wingtip. The two Tie's dodged and weaved but maintained a predetermined direction. So fixated on the weaving targets were the perusing shards, that they didn't notice their proximity to a Carrack cruiser until it was almost too late.

The gunners had held ready for closer range and began firing when they could see individual fighters by eye. Turbolasers, Ion Cannon and Quad lasers opened fire knocking out half of the enemy fighters in the group. The rest went evasive, corkscrewing away in different directions and back to other groups of fighters.

Ahead, one of the Frigates battling Ardent exploded in a fiery mess of golden plasma. The other, it's hull now showing a dozen scorch marks broke off. The Ardent came about, keeping fire from it's bow batteries on the fleeing Frigate.

"All ships this is Admiral Dorja. You are clear to jump. Pass our position and engage hyperdrive. We will hold position until all civilian ships that can escape have done so."

The largest civilian ship, a big SoroSuub built luxury liner named Twilight Wanderer was now taking fire to her engines from starfighter attacks. "Gauntlets, concentrate your defence around the Twilight Wanderer. Most of the crew from Right to Rule are aboard."

The first ships at the head of the formation began their runs up to hyperspace. Before long the Twilight Wanderer was within weapons range of Ardent and the Destroyer began carefully putting fire into groups of fighters. Most ships were passing the liner and making their jumps, the light cruisers tightened their formation around the large ship. When the Sevanar caught up to the liner the enemy fighters broke off and headed for the carrier. Even so Ardent continued to pour sheets of fire towards the fleeing fighters and approaching Frigates.

"Recover fighters! Get aboard the Ardent or Sevanar."

Before Twilight Wanderer even passed below Ardent, the Destroyer had already begun a turn to put it's nose in line for the hyperspace jump. At long last the final Civilian ship jumped out followed closely by both light cruisers.

"Direct all shields aft." Ordered Dorja as the ship was shook by a plasma blast.

"All hyperdrive systems report operational, preparing to jump."

Dozens of starfighters latched into Tie landing racks or set down in the main bays of the two ships.

Impossibly long seconds ticked by before the awaited words came from the crew pits.

"Main bay secure."

"All fighters recovered!"

"Punch it!"

013


	14. Chapter 14

+++ 

Hyperspace swirled past the bridge viewports much as they had for the past untold hours. Crew went through their duty shifts, keeping rested and alert young officers at the necessary bridge stations. Even Commander Wintle had opted to take a respite while Lt. Commander Kerrick now stood in. It would be six more hours before they dropped out of hyperspace near Toprawa.

Then he felt the all to familiar surge through the deck plating.

"Premature hyperspace reversion!" Shouted the helmsman as the Ardent was yanked out of hyperspace by it's safety interrupts. Ahead were the other ships of the convoy and a dark green gas giant planet. Wintle and the navigators on the Ardent didn't make foul ups in hyperspace jumps. The Commander had been in charge of a hyperspace mapping ship before his transfer to Destroyers. Something was wrong.

"Report!"

Kerrick was fast to respond. "Our course for Toprawa was altered somehow. It's possible it was off by as much as four degrees."

The operations officer was quick to chime in. "That's near impossible sir. Someone would have had to slice into our systems to cause an error that big."

"We may have been vulnerable when docked to the station." Kerrick suggested. "We linked our systems into the remaining operational computers around the slipway."

"Did our systems pick up any slicer programs trying to get into our computers from the station?"

"There's no way to be sure. We powered down whole sections of the ship while we were conducting repairs. A program could have drawn power from the station's reserves to run secondary computer backups. The main computer can sometimes detect even that kind of infiltration but we had it turned off for nearly an hour at one point while re-initializing the processors and sensor arrays."

"When were the computers turned off." Dorja directly asked the officer.

The younger man grimaced. "Just before the Rebel attack."

"I think I'll have to have a talk with our Prisoner later. For now we need to find out where we are and find a safe haven for these civilians. Ops, try and see if you can track down any slicer programs floating around. Check into the backups if you have to. Commander lets get this convoy into a high orbit around the gas giant. I want to be ready to get out of the gravity well if we need to jump again."

"Yes sir." 

+++ 

"Contacts." Called out sensors. "Bayonet class light cruiser and a CC-9600 Frigate. IFF marks them as independents. Mercenaries."

"There are private defence fleets in this area not allied with the Rebels." Mused the Admiral. "Try checking the database for a match."

"Aye sir."

"We are being hailed." Said Communications.

Dorja turned to Kerrick. "Here's where we find the fleet's disposition Lieutenant. Are they going to ask for our surrender? Or ask if we need assistance..."

"I think I much preferred the simplicities of running ship operations sir."

"You get used to it." Whispered the old man. "On the main screen please."

"This is Captain Nei Folen of the Frigate Paragon to incoming Star Destroyer, please respond."

"This is Admiral Dorja of the Destroyer Ardent. We are… some what lost to put it bluntly. May I ask the reason for a pocket Battleship like your own being in this system?"

There was little delay in the other ship Captain's response. It must have been a question he received fairly often.

"We are part of a defence force assembled to protect the mining settlements in this system from pirate attacks. This system has been suffering from raids for the past ten years. The miners hire on Mercenary forces on extended contracts."

Dorja glanced off to the side as a nearby screen started scrolling information on this particular mercenary band. The numbers and types of ships were enough to make even a Star Destroyer think twice about tackling the group. He turned his attention back to the Captain.

"Can we trouble you for a Hypercom uplink? We've been out of contact with the Imperial fleet for an extended period."

The Captain frowned. "We lost Hypercom communications and contacts about two weeks ago. We have still been getting news in from transports and other ships that perform stopovers. The Hypercom blackouts seem to be widespread. Communications is patchy all the way from the Mid-rim to the Corporate sector. Most of the Hydian Way still has communications though."

"We need navigation routes to the nearest Imperial stronghold. I also need to speak to whoever is the leader of the Mining concerns in this system. It's likely to affect the future of operations in this system. We also have civilians aboard several transports. Some of them may need supplies and medical attention."

"Understood. The Main administration and civilian center is on an asteroid on the far side of the system. You should find a Nav beacon at two nine oh mark three five one. I hope you'll understand if we escort you in."

"It's quite alright. I hope to talk to you again once our business with the local government is concluded."

The transmission ended, the Holo display going blank.

"Mr. Kerrick, get hold of the officers and crew from Right to Rule aboard Twilight Wanderer. I want to start moving them to the other military ships. Any experienced damage control and engineering teams are to help repair Wanderer. I don't want it slowing us down if we have to make another jump."

"I'll get right on it." Responded Kerrick who got right to work contacting the ship.

"Admiral." Called the sensors officer. "One of the freighters is breaking formation. It's headed for open space."

Dorja walked around the command walkway until he had a clear view of the sensors screen in the crew pit.

"It's an Action V transport. Modified with weapons."

"Incoming signal from the transport."

"Put it on."

A human male's voice issued from the speakers sounding like he was on the verge of laughter. "Thank you Imperial watch dogs, for getting us away from whatever those things were. I'm certain we would have died without your assistance."

"The transport is accelerating much faster than a ship of that class is rated for." Whispered the sensors officer. Our CAP won't get to within weapons range before they jump."

"In our gratitude we'll give you a head start before telling any local Rebels we know where to find you. Before we jump here's a little rhyme to remember us by.

'Dorja the cautious, Dorja the fool

Dorja's so old his lip's running with drool.'

Ha!

Good luck and May the Force be with you. Haha!"

The ship's sensor contact winked out as it entered hyperspace.

"Take us to the asteroid station helm. We can't go chasing after some insane Rebel while there's more important things to do."

+++ 

Jag Fel stepped onto the bridge of the Ardent wearing a light duty uniform instead of a Flight suit for the first time in days. It seemed like an eternity since the last time he'd been here. This time it was very different. The bridge was a riot of activity with nearly double the normal number of personnel present. Captain Cheyden Graal of Right to Rule stood talking to Dorja. Both men turned at his approach.

Jag snapped off a salute when he came to a stop in front of the two men. "Admiral, Captain." He nodded to each man in turn.

"Thank you for joining us Colonel. Captain Graal was just telling me about his ship's encounters with the enemy. You can carry on Captain, Colonel Fel has heard or seen other stories like yours before."

Graal glanced to take note of what his crewmen were doing then continued. "As I was saying, we had just taken a full broadside from an Alien Frigate analog. There was electromagnetic feedback and one of the consoles exploded killing the Captain. Admiral Varsin was still alive at that time as he often commands from a modified carrier.

The Admiral had been able to get sensor reports from the newer Destroyers before they were destroyed. The older ISD's don't have sensor systems that are as sophisticated. The newer ships had more accurately detected the shifting gravity events when their shields were stripped.

I rolled the Right to Rule to hit the frigate we were battling with our undamaged starboard weapons. We damaged it forcing it off but we took return hits without our shields, losing us more Turbolasers. The Admiral then contacted us, telling how to protect our shields and promoting me to full Captain. He ordered us, the last Destroyer left, to jump out of the system and try to reach command. We took two undamaged light cruisers with us."

"You found the Civilians after that?" Questioned Dorja.

"Yes. We'd seen them escaping during the battle. It was easier just to stay with them as we ran."

"Well I don't have another ship to give you Captain. It seems like your command tour was a short one."

"It was long enough to make a difference sir, but I have been thinking."

"Go ahead."

"Other than her engine problems the Twilight Wanderer is a sturdy ship. It's of the same type that Rebels used to capture and convert into heavy cruisers."

"Dauntless, yes. Those things could be pests. You have plans for the ship?"

"Yes sir. We could keep the remainder of my crew that are still aboard her there for now. We could acquire some weapons from the Mercenaries and my crew and I would stay here, refit the ship and help defend this system until Imperial Fleets can get here."

"It seems like a waste of a passenger liner that could move thousands of a people out of the area."

"The Twilight Wanderer has a newer hyperdrive system. It's roughly of the same type that the ISDII uses. I noticed that you've been having trouble with your drives when I was talking to some of the bridge crew. You're maximum speed is reduced to that of slow civilian ships. Take the drives from Twilight Wanderer and leave it here."

Dorja exhaled then turned to Fel. "Colonel what do you think of the idea?"

Jag was slightly surprised to be put on the spot. "Well... this is navy matter and a command level decision, but I would be inclined to go with the Captain's plan. If we can mount the drive fast enough we could reach Imperial forces much more quickly."

"Very well Captain. It seems your plan must have merit if even Colonel Fel agrees with it. We'll move the hyperdrive over once we reach the asteroid base. Now if you'll excuse us Captain I need to talk to my starfighter commander."

"Sir." Saluted Graal before spinning on his heal and marching off of the bridge.

Dorja walked to the bridge viewports and waved for Jag to follow. "Colonel how are our starfighter forces faring?"

"Sufficient to repel a light Rebel attack sir. We are not ready for a large battle again. We have forty one fighters if we include the small number of Uglies, most of those are damaged. We might be able to get ten more fighters using the debris of destroyed or crippled vehicles."

"Pilots?"

"We don't have enough. Fifty or so total. Not enough to properly rest them and maintain a CAP. It was ok at Gravlex Med because we had military ships that could take hits long enough for the pilots to get out of bunks and to their fighters if we really needed. But now-"

"Now we have civies to look after." Dorja cut him off. "Try to keep a CAP of four fighters minimum. It's not enough I know but it will have to do. Try and find some more pilots too. Check if any random officers or crewmen have Tie qualification."

"I did some checking already sir. Lt. Commander Devis of the Sevanar is qualified in the Tie Defender."

"You've got one of your Gauntlet pilots flying that A-wing don't you? See if Devis can handle a Gauntlet if he wants to. Just some practice runs, I'll still want him Commanding Sevanar."

014


	15. Chapter 15

+++ 

The sound of several thousand Imperial officers and troops snapping to attention echoed across the large ferrocrete landing pad at Agamar's military spaceport. High Admiral Dreks Burgan walked almost casually down the extended ramp of his personal Shuttle. A tall lanky man of mixed Coruscant and Corellian ancestry, he wore a somewhat bemused expression most of the time. The Shuttle's white finish sparkled in the morning sunlight marred only by the bright Imperial crests on the nose and wings.

The Admiral had just reached the base of the ramp when he was joined by a larger man in an Imperial Army General's uniform. Jerej Richardson stood at least as tall as Admiral Burgan but was much broader. Most people that saw him expected that he was or soon would be overweight and were surprised to find out he was in good shape.

The two men walked down the wide aisle between large formations of Stormtroopers and toward the waiting Moff of the Lahara Sector.

Jerej leaned in closer to the Admiral for just a second and whispered to him. "Third formation on the left is looking a bit ragged."

A smirk tugged at the Admiral's lips. The two of them had been playing this game for many years now. "The second formation back on the right looks just as bad." He replied.

The General tilted his head just enough to see the other trooper formations out of the corner of his eye. 

"I think they were rotated in from Vinsoth by the look of them."

"You only think? You must be slipping Jerej."

"Well it was either Vinsoth or they were shipped in from Coruscant's lower levels."

"Ah, your uncertainty makes all the more sense now."

"You don't have to get all smart about it."

The two men kept quiet until they were standing in front of Moff Naz Thorin who immediately offered them his hand.

"Welcome to Lahara Sector Admiral Burgan. It's always a pleasure to meet such an outstanding officer like yourself."

"Likewise Moff Thorin." Dreks responded easily. "This is General Richardson. He heads up my ground forces among other things."

"General Richardson, yes. I must tell you I have studied the landings in the last Mon Cal war quite extensively. It was quite brilliant."

The General put a hand to his chest. "I think I'm going to blush, no one has ever spoken so highly of my work before." At Dreks' stare he pushed on. "But an Army is only as good as the Navy that lands it."

"How true. Admiral, I believe the conference should be assembling by know. If you'll follow me?"

They stepped into a modified armoured ground transport which whisked them into a bunker complex leading underground. The vehicle followed a down sloping ramp around several corners before levelling out into a straight away.

The happy almost eccentric sounding old man that the Moff had seemed on the surface was replaced by a serious grim man as they went farther underground.

"While we're waiting, just between us, how much danger is my sector in Admiral?"

Both of the lower ranking men sighed. "How much danger your sector is going to be in will depend very much on what is decided in this counsel. I think I can say without doubt though that this will be very serious. If you haven't called up reserves yet do so once the meeting is over. We are getting ready for a possible worst case scenario, you should do the same."

He didn't bother telling the Moff that he had already been given full authority in this matter. This entire section of the Empire could be in jeopardy if he screwed up.

+++ 

"Gentlemen what do we know?" Asked the High Admiral as he stood at the head of the large conference table. Before anyone could break the silence he moved on.   
"I don't want to know what you think, what do we actually know? Knowledge we know to be fact."

The other high ranking leaders in attendance kept quiet. Select leaders from every major Imperial force from Vijun to Ithor were present for the conference. Most of them as Moffs out ranked the Admiral, but the smart ones knew that if he weren't competent being the young upstart Admiral would have been dead some time past.

"For more than two weeks no communications of any kind have been received from Yaga Minor. We know Admiral Dorja was assembling a fleet about midway between Sinsang and Bimmiel.

A partially destroyed communications beacon recovered by a recon team indicated that Dorja had received a distress signal from Bastion before his carriers arrived. He then left the com beacon behind for the carriers and jumped to Bastion.

"When the carriers arrived at the rendezvous point we can assume they were ambushed by a waiting force. Debris of two Skipray Blastboats was also found. Analysis indicates they were destroyed perhaps a day later than the carriers. One of the few registry numbers found in the remains places them as part of the Blastboat unit assigned to Dorja's Command ship the Ardent.

When attempts to contact the fleet by hypercom failed the commander of the Strike Cruiser which had found the wreckage ordered that they pull back. As such there was little chance to more thoroughly scour the debris."

Admiral Burgan waved to General Richardson who was waiting off to the side to activate the holo projector. The projection came up displaying a large swath of the galaxy. Some areas were darkened either with a light grey mist or dark grey.

"This is the blackout zone." Continued the Admiral, pointing to the dark grey section. "The area in which we have been receiving no reports or any information from. There is also the grey zone. The areas affected by the holocom disruptions but are still maintaining contact with the fleet. This contact remains intermittent and unreliable."

Many of the Moffs nodded. Only a few of those present commanded worlds which were un-affected.

"No ships that have entered the blackout zone in the past two weeks have come out. The zone extends from the Atrivis sector into the unknown regions as well as out to the Tingel Arm.

Because of this blackout condition we will be sending in two large battle fleets. They will converge at Yaga Minor where this incident seems to have started. Each of these fleets will have additional Star Destroyers left behind acting as Hypercom relays. Because of the importance of this situation ships and vehicles are being stripped from any nearby systems and sectors to aid in this offensive.

Due to it's proximity we are going to take as few ships as possible from the Lahara Sector as we may end up using them as a reserve force.

Each group will have one central Command class Destroyer, twelve Imperator or Imperial II Destroyers and Upgrade series Victory Destroyers. There will be a minimum four carriers and dozens of support ships. Any ship that can be brought in from nearby without dramatically weakening the defences of worlds will be used."

He paused and looked around the table. "Are there any overwhelming objections to the course I've laid out?"

Slowly responses of 'No' began to echo across the table.

"Good... I want these two forces assembled within the week, if not sooner. We will find out what is behind these blackouts and fleet disappearances."

015


	16. Chapter 16

+++ 

Garm Bel Iblis, looked out into the depths of space from his office aboard the mobile base 'Paradise Lost.' A few kilometres away cruised Peregrine, Farstar, and Tyrant's Bane. A handful of the ships protecting the base. Out here in the Kathol outback, midway between Exocron and the Kathol Republic, the Rebel forces under his command had finally found a haven. The Kathol sector was a big place and had too much random traffic for Imperial Intelligence to follow every smuggler or sympathizer.

It had been two years since a dedicated Imperial Taskforce had chased the Rebel Fleet to the very edges of the galaxy. Thankfully the transport ships they used had been built by smugglers allowing them to get far enough ahead of the main force which had been slowed down by aging Dreadnaughts. The Imperial Command ship had flown straight into a volley of more than one hundred Torpedoes. The other Destroyers had not fallen nearly so easily but the battle had been won.

Ever since, the Rebels had maintained a low profile. Imperial Intelligence had later found the site of the battle but not before hyperdrives had been installed aboard the hulks of three still salvageable Destroyers. The command ship had been rebuilt into the Rebel's mobile base and repairs to the other Destroyers were now less than two months away from completion.

Meanwhile small forces of Rebels ships were deployed as mercenary units. Mostly protecting neutral planets in the sector from Pirates but others found employment elsewhere. It was enough to bring in food and supplies for the hidden Rebel fleet so it would continue for the time being.

Every so often they would load up a freighter or two as a starfighter transport and hit some Imperial target far from the Kathol Sector. It was handy to hunt the pirates in the area as their captured ships could be repaired and put back out with a different crew and take the place of the previous bandits. A few more months of this and they could move the fleet to a new area, harassing better targets with their rebuilt forces.

His comlink on the desk behind him beeped for attention. Spinning the chair around he stabbed the button. "Go ahead."

His aid's voice came over the com, her young but already grainy voice carrying easily.

"I have someone to see you sir."

"Who is it? I'm not supposed to see anyone until eighteen hundred."

"He says his name is Jaden Kral and that he met you on Bestine."

Iblis frowned. "I've never even been to Bestine before."

"I know that sir but his security checked out enough to get him here from Tanquilla Beach. Our people on the station tend to be thorough."

"They're only thorough if they're not dead. Did you scan him for weapons?"

"Yes and he surrendered a light carbine to the guards."

"Put him on the comlink." Growled the old Rebel.

A moment later the aid's voice responded. "Go ahead sir."

"This is Iblis. You should know, if this is an assassination attempt it won't do you any good. I'll just be replaced by younger possibly more efficient people. The ship would also jump before any force could arrive."

A calm even voice responded. "If I had reason to kill you General you would not be alive right now. I am not a member of Imperial Intelligence, I'm just here to talk business."

The General debated for a few seconds the shrugged to himself. "Let him in."

+++ 

A slightly taller than average human entered and took the offered chair, his face seeming somewhat plain.

"Jaden Kral is not my real name but it will suffice for our purposes. I represent a particular... group which is interested in bringing an end to the Empire as we know it."

Iblis clasped his hands on the desk in front of him. "I'm listening."

"My group has already made some headway using pirate and mercenary bands to disrupt Imperial communications in the Outer and Mid Rim."

"Yes I was just reading a report detailing communications difficulties. Apparently there's a Holocom grey-out from Sullust to Wild space. Even Vergesso is affected."

"There are even larger swath's of the outer-rim with holocom difficulties. Wild space from Ryloth to Kessel and everything on the other side of Vortex from the Hydian Way to the Unknown Regions. The Hutts have already been using this to their advantage."

"Sounds like an impressive feat I have to say. Why are you here telling me this?"

"We can maintain a limited offensive against the Imperial fleet for a time and have been. I'm sure you know what will happen if we begin to enjoy too much success though."

The General gave a curt nod.

"The Eclipse, or one of the Sovereigns. Yes." With those ships still in existence it didn't matter what the Rebellion did. Everything could be undone with a planetary bombardment. So they had been reduced to hunting down scraps and trying to stay hidden. Each year getting that much harder to stay hidden.

"Our attacks are going to be drawing Imperial attention very soon. We would like groups such as yours to hit Imperial targets on this side of the galaxy in roughly the same time period. Even if we were to win in our area there would still be many fleets elsewhere ready to be thrown against us. We need their attention split."

Kral glanced around the room for a moment as if he hadn't noticed his surroundings before then turned his attention back to the General.

"I believe you have a saying 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend?' We are not asking for your alliance at this time. I can provide you with the names of certain star systems and areas you should avoid for now though. At the moment our military might mistake you for an enemy."

"I don't suppose you could give me a rough idea now where we should avoid?"

"The Tingel arm to Ithor and parts of the Hydian Way are going to become unsafe to any Imperials."

"Civilians?"

"There are always Civilian casualties in war General, you should know that. We will be stopping any civilian traffic trying to leave the area. After the initial shock wears off we are going to need knowledge of reliable hyperlanes to get our fleets out of the area. Lanes few Imperials know about."

"If you try to cross the Hydian Way or anywhere near it the Imperials are going to be able to use it to ferry huge fleets against you from the Core."

"Leave that to us."

Kral lifted his briefcase placing it on the desk and opened it before turning it to face the General. Inside was a near spherical object looking similar to a leathery ball.

"This is a Villip, an organic communications device. It can reach over great distances and does not need re-transmitters like a holocom does. Each is tuned to only respond to another specific one. Do not attempt to have your techs 'reverse engineer' it as it will die from such an attempt. Should you decide to contact our group in the future, this will be the only way... other than though me that is." He finished, giving an almost evil grin.

Iblis looked down at the object then back up. "I will have to speak to other leaders before launching an offensive. I can't push something like this through on my own. There's too much risk involved. We could be wiped out."

"Do what you must. We will not soon forget any assistance you render us. In fact I can readily promise that any worlds you take will be yours to control once the Empire has fallen."

The old General, though still uncertain, offered his hand to the unusual ambassador. "I'm sure we'll be able to come to some sort of understanding."

"Indeed." He replied then bowed. "I will return in two weeks to see if your counsel wishes to discuss anything. I hope that you will find that time... productive."

016


	17. Chapter 17

+++ 

Admiral Burgan sat at his desk in an office he'd been loaned for his stay on Agamar. His speech and proposal of a large offensive seemed to have gone well with the assembled Moffs and Admirals at the conference. Already the needed ships were pouring into the two staging areas of Ithor and Agamar. Two Moffs had left Star Destroyers that had carried them here to become part of the forming fleet.

The real difficulty wasn't going to be the battle fleet but the ships acting as Hypercom relays. Ships with the best communications systems were being outfitted with additional relays and transmitters. The two ships acting as the main communications hubs for the fleets would be a pair of ISDIII's. It was a tad wasteful but the larger ships could mount longer ranged arrays.

It wouldn't be nearly as wasteful as this whole operation would seem if it turned out that the communications difficulties were just some minor disturbance. If they got to Yaga Minor and all of the star systems in the area were untouched by Rebel or other forces he would have been made to look a fool. Likely, being knocked down to customs patrol duties would be the result. There was also the danger that an attack was real. If it was some kind of Rebel uprising then they had to have gotten access to a huge fleet or barring that, a Superweapon.

The doors to the office hissed open and in walked a woman wearing a dark robe.

"Who are you?!" Demanded the Admiral as he looked up.

The woman of average height pulled back the cloak's hood allowing a view of her striking features.

"A messenger sent by the Emperor. Someone to more easily keep watch of the situation as it progresses."

Eyes wide in shock Burgan tried to keep from gasping as he drew breath. "...the Emperor's Hand?"

"You are very well informed Admiral." Frowned the Emperor's servant. "One could wonder how someone of your age and position could know of such things."

He shrugged. "I have some civilian contacts who hear things. They normally aren't good enough to find out something of that scale on their own. I had assumed someone had been captured by rebels and talked."

"You may call me Aayla Jorrier. As I am sure you have figured out by now, this mission is of great interest to the Emperor. He does not believe it is a simple Pirate raid causing this. Even one hundred such raids at the same time would not cause these blackouts."

"I'm sure I can find room aboard my command ship for a representative of the Emperor. I take it my success or failure will be judged with a very critical eye. More so than I had anticipated?"

"The Emperor has seen fit that if you are as successful as your briefing earlier would indicate, then you would be promoted. The next Grand Admiral of the Empire and the youngest ever appointed."

Burgan gave a feral grin. "I'll be sure not to disappoint."

"Despite the official response this threat is to be taken very seriously. There will be a large fleet built up in the core should we need to push down the Hydian Way. That group will have a Sovereign. It will be more than one month before that fleet can be deployed and another two weeks to get it here. If your fleets disappear like the others sent into the blackout zone, this section of the galaxy will be severely compromised for a full month."

"I understand the problems. The alternative is sitting back and waiting for this 'darkness' to spread. Potentially threatening hundreds of loyal Imperial worlds. What would the people of the Empire think if their seemingly immortal leader gave them no help whatsoever?"

The Emperor's hand frowned.

"It is that sort of situation of doubt we're attempting to avoid."

017

Note from the Author: No, the Emperor's Hand in this fic is not Mara Jade.


	18. Chapter 18

+++ 

The flotilla of Military and civilian ships lead by Ardent finally arrived at the Dal-porath mining colony at the beginning of their second day in the system. No Rebels, Pirates or strange Alien menace had appeared in that time. Crews were almost catching up on sleep, and the constant repair work continued. Some sections of the Ardent had even been re-pressurised for the first time since Bastion.

The mining colony itself was comprised of a nine hundred kilometer asteroid with several Space Colony Three modules built into the surface. A few kilometres away from the colony sections was the planetoid's main mine shaft. Fifteen hundred meters across, the opening was large enough to admit even a Star Destroyer entrance to the mine interior. Accordingly the surface around the opening was dotted with shield generators, missile launchers and other defence weapons.

"They look like they're prepared to weather a fleet bombardment." Commented Colonel Fel.

"It's understandable Colonel." Replied Dorja. "The Rebels did find the Katana Fleet after all. It may have been years since that fleet was defeated but many of the ships survived. Enough to kill an outpost like this in one barrage without good shielding. We must have had a few hundred false Dreadnaught sightings in just the two years after the Katana Fleet."

Wintle who was back on duty strode up to the two and saluted. "Dal-porath colony One has contacted us. The Colony Administrator has invited you to a meeting and formal dinner. He informs me he's made provisions both for his own security to escort you while on base and your own bodyguards. Also, any other senior officers may attend."

"Commander I want you here on Ardent, and Captain Graal can't be bothered with his work continuing on the Twilight Wanderer." He turned to Jag. "Colonel would you care to join us? We won't be by ourselves of course. I'll ask Taulen to come along with a few of his best Stormtroopers."

"I would be honoured sir." 

+++ 

"Lane, Fitzgibbon Lane." The Colony Administrator introduced himself. "It's a pleasure to have you aboard Admiral. It's been years since we've had anyone higher than a Lieutenant Commander visit our humble establishment."

Administrator was an older darker skinned human, not as old as Dorja's chronological age but into his late sixties. He seemed to have the keen eye and smooth manners of a merchant but most of Jag's instincts pointed to Smuggler. In either case the man seemed to genuinely care about the well being of the miners and those living in the colony.

The dinner table was of a large early Imperial design easily accommodating the host, guests and a few people of importance from the colony. Captain Folen of the Paragon arrived a few minutes late wearing a dark brown dress uniform. The Colony leader let everyone eat some of their meal before starting into the main topic of the discussion.

"So Admiral, what is it that brings the head of a fairly renowned response squadron out to the middle of nowhere. At the head of a fleet of civilian ships no less."

"Administrator Lane you know about the Hypercom disturbances correct?"

"Yes, we assumed that Pirates or Rebels had been attacking Hypercom relays. Even the relays in our system, though limited in range, were attacked. Captain Folen and his fleet were unable to drive the attackers off before the relays were beyond recovery."

"I believe these attacks are part of a coordinated alien invasion of the Empire. My fleet has repeatedly encountered alien vessels of previously unknown design, using technologies far different from our own. We have survived only by running from them or sacrificing one of our ships to take down each of theirs. They have taken an area of twelve sectors or more. Everything between Bastion and Yaga Minor."

"And you were hoping to contract our mercenary defence fleet to help escort the civilian fleet out?"

"No. My priority at this time is getting the information we've collected on these new aliens back to the Imperial Star fleet. I don't want to impose on you but I was hoping I could leave the civilian refugee fleet under your care."

"Admiral I am not unsympathetic to your problems but it will be difficult for us to properly care for so many people. Also if what you say is true -I have do doubt it is- then this system could be in danger soon. The last thing we need is strain on our resources in a potential battle situation."

"Once I've reported in I could return with more ships to escort the refugees out. Your colony has heavy shields and I could be back within two weeks."

"We'll do what we can to help for now but when this news spreads people are going to start asking for transport out of the system. Yes Nei what is it?" Fitz looked over to Captain Folen who was holding up a finger on a slightly raised hand.

"We may have a problem. There was some communications off of the civilian ships."

Dorja cursed and whipped out his com. "Dorja to Ardent."

"Go ahead Admiral." answered the com officer.

"Put the Commander on right away."

"Aye sir."

"Go ahead."

"Wintle, check the records for communications from the civilian ships. I want to know how much they've told the local population."

"Aye sir, we- ...Oh no."

"What is it?"

"It was Kerrick sir. He set things up to record communications between the civilian ships but not communications from the ships to any other sources. Sensor records show that we detected several dozen transmissions but never recorded their contents. There's no way to know what information the civvies got out."

"Get what you can from now on Commander. Dorja out."

The Admiral put his comlink back in a pocket and looked to the Administrator.

"That tears us a new singularity now doesn't it? I bet half the system knows by now."

018 


	19. Chapter 19

+++ 

Fitzgibbon Lane lead his guests on a tour of the station while they continued to discuss plans.

"For our defence we do have starfighters. Most are Uglies or Black Sun models, and our small navy is experienced. Not all of our defence force is made up of Captain Folen's Mercenaries. You see, we make little or no inquiries about someone's past here. A forgive and forget attitude. I have little doubt some of our people are ex-Rebels or Imperial deserters but I don't care who."

"With a reputation like that I'm surprised this place hasn't become a pirate's nest."

"Outsiders have tried to force our hand here before but the population wants neutrality above all other things. We try very hard to stay out of larger conflicts. All we ask of those who come here is that they leave their past at the door. We don't ask questions if someone sells us a Starfighter and signs on as a pilot. But if someone wants to join either an Insurgent or Imperial group they're asked to leave."

"What happens if they refuse to leave?" Asked Jag

"We stun them and throw them on a freighter headed for places where they're not going to be welcome. Our murder rate is also very low as guilty parties tend to be spaced."

"It sounds like you've managed to find an efficient balance here." Commented Dorja appreciatively. "You don't sell directly to any side?"

"We sell minerals and materials to the freighters and merchants themselves. We try to regulate the prices of ore in system as it helps the smaller mines. But I'm getting off topic, we should be talking about defence."

"We'll give you what we have on workable tactics for fighting these aliens. I can have Colonel Fel go into more detail on starfighter tactics with some of your pilots."

"Thank you. Do you know how long you're going to be in system for?"

"Another two days at the very least. We have some Hyperdrive issues to resolve before heading out. I'd send one of the other ships by themselves but if they ran into trouble the Ardent would be needed to fight through it."

"I see. Well, I hope two days will be enough time to prepare our defences. I'm sure we can put together some training programs to use after you've left."

"You shouldn't need to worry too much. I'm going to be leaving the Twilight Wanderer here while it's new captain outfit's it for combat. I was hoping to procure some Turbolasers for the ship either from you or the Mercenaries. Captain Graal knows the alien tactics as do his pilots. I'll be leaving the Uglies from the civilian fleet here along with a handful of Interceptors."

"Admiral I hope you can impress upon your ship Captain that this is a neutral port. I don't want any shooting taking place in the spacedock. If those conditions are met I can see about selling you... ten Turbolasers and two Turbolaser Batteries."

"I hope those weapons aren't intended as a bribe to keep Imperial security from investigating this operation further."

Lane frowned. "Those weapons are intended to help protect civilians from this Alien threat you insist is invading. And until that ship leaves the system it will also be protecting my people. If you feel a security investigation is needed feel free to have one sent in. I have some powerful friends in Imperial Security who would not be amused to have their agents sent here to chase dead ends."

A tall woman wearing clothing not dissimilar to the colony administrator's approached the group from a side walkway. "Fitz dear, I'm terribly sorry to interrupt but we have a problem brewing on Dal Two colony. There are reports circulating about some kind of invasion and a lot of the people are becoming unsure of their safely. "

"Admiral, I'm afraid duty calls."

+++ 

The Imperial party had returned to Ardent's shuttle after a tour of the main settlement. The recreational areas were true wonders to behold. Huge enclosed parks filled with greenery took up room that had once been used for the docking facilities of the SC3 station designs. Since the older docks that were part of the stations were not needed after being installed in the asteroid, the miners had converted them into beautiful multi story gardens. Deeper inside the Asteroid in well shielded areas were the hydroponics gardens that actually fed the colony.

Watching freighters and transports slip past the shuttle's viewports Jag finally decided to broach something that had been on his mind to the Admiral.

"Permission to speak freely Admiral?"

"Granted."

"With all due respect sir, I don't think you should have brought up Imperial security to the Administrator."

"I did it to test his reaction. He's hiding something but it's hard not too in a colony like this one. Who knows where he's from or how he reached a position of power. He still seemed adamant about neutrality. His counter to my threat was that he would go to someone in the government, not go to the Rebels."

"I believe he's a smuggler sir. Or was one."

"That means very little. He's old enough to have been out of that business long enough that the statue of limitations on his crime has run out. He's not a threat, just someone trying to make the best of a situation."

"Aye sir. By the way, have you seen the design specifications of some of the Uglies the miners use for defence?"

"No Colonel I haven't. Is it important?"

"It may be."

At that moment two starfighters screamed out of the colony's main bay at speeds only an Interceptor could reach. Z-95 starfighter hulls had been used as the base with two long cylindrical engines placed under the wing and half of a Tie solar array mounted on an angle above the wing.

"What are those?"

"I intend to ask the Colony defence pilots tomorrow but they appear to use the same type of engine pods as the E-wing."

"The E-wing didn't enter mass production Colonel."

"The fighter may not have but it looks like the engine design survived. Either that or they're from the A-9. The engine pods are hard to tell apart."

Dorja looked out at the fast moving fighters again. "How much are you willing to bet that these things have already proliferated through most of the Rim by now?"

"I'm not a Sabacc player sir." 

+++ 

Dorja's feet had just hit the deck plating of the Ardent's landing bay when his com went off.

"Dorja here."

Wintle was on the other end. "Sir I think we have a problem. There are anomalous readings coming from one of the secondary power cells. Ops can't track down the problem. I-"

Wintle was cut off mid sentence as the decking rocked from an explosion deep inside the ship. The lighting flickered then dimmed to combat levels.

Commander Wintle's voice came over the inter-ship com.

'Secure all stations. Away damage control teams.'

"Colonel, check that the fighters are unharmed. I'll be on the bridge."

Fel threw a quick salute and ran towards the starfighter docking areas. The Stormtroopers that had been assigned as bodyguards escorted the Admiral quickly to the nearest turbolift and even followed onto a bridge a short distance.

"Commander what kind of problems do we have?"

"A secondary powercell near our fuel reserves exploded. It didn't penetrate the armour surrounding the fuel stores but it did damage several other powercells and punctured the inner hull. It was near one of the sections that hadn't been re-pressurised yet so damage was minimal."

"What caused the explosion?"

"The cell was previously undamaged and the fail safes should have prevented any kind of overload. These systems have all been tested and retested again in the shipyards and on hundreds of other ships in the class. The only explanation I can come up with is sabotage."

Dorja stopped and let his thoughts catch up for a second or two. Someone or something had caused them to end up in this system. Now a power cell had been sabotaged. The ship's power storage capacity may have been diminished by two or three percent, hardly crippling.

"I want Troopers patrolling the ship. Find out who did this. I'll be in the detention area seeing someone."

+++ 

Stormtrooper head Akeyiro Taulen was present when the Admiral went to see the Rebel prisoner.

"Any problems with the prisoner I should know about?"

"Nothing so far. We checked her for hidden weapons when we brought her in and have scanned again every twelve hours. No unusual temper problems. We haven't had to cut rations to keep her in check. No attempts to escape. She sustained a minor concussion during the initial capture. We fixed her up."

"Fine. Sit her up in her cell then I'll talk to her from this side of the force field."

"Yes sir. By the way if you want we can put something in the cell's air supply to make her a bit more cooperative. We have some of the newer aerosol truth serums aboard."

"Side effects?"

"They might start to fight it off after awhile. It's still being perfected."

A few minutes later Dorja entered the room with the holding cell. The young woman sat mostly upright on a chair inside the cell. Her head down, looking at her chest.

Dorja took a seat in a chair that had been left outside of the cell.

"I'm the commanding officer of the ship you and your band tried to blow up a few days ago. I think you should know, if you had succeeded more than seventy thousand civilians would have died."

Her head came up at that anger flaring in her expression. "You Imps would have killed seventy thousand people in revenge for your ship's loss?"

"No. A fleet of fleeing civilian ships would have been wiped out by this new Alien threat if it wasn't for my ship's intervention. All of those same people had their lives risked again because someone had sabotaged our Nav computer. Now I'm not a trained interrogator but I think you're going to answer a few of my questions."

The Rebel looked away choosing not to respond.

"Your name just to start things off."

"I suppose it can't hurt just to give you my name. Anni Capstan." 

+++ 

"Who was your contact on the Ardent?"

"Half the sensors in the system had you picked up when you went for the station. Everyone on the ground thought you Imps were finally going to destroy it. We didn't need a contact."

She was trying to brush past the question without answering.

"_Who_ was your contact on the Ardent."

"I-" She was starting to fight the drug now. Things were becoming uncertain to her. "There... there wasn't one."

"I'll ask you again. Who was your contact on the Star Destroyer?!"

"Him... he was... people kept saying that Rick had shown up, but that he was early. Rick Dent. I thought it sounded weird but I didn't ask. I just wanted to get into orbit and fight."

Rick Dent? Was it some kind of code perhaps?

"What's the newest standard Rebel code?"

"Operative then ship. We were told to always keep things simple."

It still didn't make any sense. Unless...Rick... Ker-rick on the Ar-dent.

"Taulen!" Dorja called out.

"Sir?" Replied the trooper.

"Find Lieutenant Commander Kerrick, keep things quiet. Just you and four of your best troopers. Isolate the Commander and confine him to a set of quarters. Make sure all of the com lines in and out of those quarters are dead. Stun him if he gives you trouble but I want him alive. If he want's to know what's going on just tell him it's part of a drill and that you can't talk about it at the moment."

"Understood, and the Rebel?"

"Leave her locked up for now. We can get any more information we need later."

019 


	20. Chapter 20

+++ 

Deep in the outer rim a Tandem X-wing and two upgraded Headhunter's lifted off from the rocky ice ball they had been using as a base for the past few weeks. Once the fighters were clear, a heavily modified YT-1930 lifted off.

At the controls of the Tandem X-wing sat Kyp Durron, the most powerful force user allied with the Rebel fleet. In the seat behind him sat Danni Quee, last survivor of Ex-Gal 4, a deep space science outpost. Alien invaders from outside the galaxy had swept into the most outlying sectors in the area weeks ago. Due to Hypercom disruptions the few populated worlds were unable to call for help. Escaping ships were chased down and cut off by ships that looked like rounded asteroids and seemed to carry interdictor field generators.

Kyp's apprentice Miko Reglia had been captured in the fighting. Unwilling to give up on his apprentice who he still sensed through the force, Kyp had returned with a Rebel cell lead by Octa Ramis. They were too late to save Kyp's apprentice but had arrived in time to save the young scientist Danni who herself seemed to be gifted with the Force.

They streaked toward the edges of the system, which had only an Imperial survey designation. Before they jumped Octa commed Kyp from one of the other fighters.

"We need to get to Kre'fey. He'll know what to do about this new species. If he doesn't he also knows how to contact The General if needed."

Kyp, still angry over the death of his apprentice and friend was only half listening. He could still see the alien warrior as it's living snake like weapon had wrapped around his lightsaber like it was a toy. He had only just been fast enough to put a force assisted kick into the thing's head with a Durasteel armoured boot.

"We're going to need a fast ship for that Kyp." Octa prodded.

He shook himself out of his reverie. "Get hold of Lane when we come out of hyperspace. Tell him we need the Luck ready to go when we arrive."

"He doesn't like lending out his ship to people. It's against his own rules for us to even set foot on those mining colonies of his."

"Then we explain it to him first. If he still doesn't like it then we steal his ship. What's he going to do, report us to the Imperials? Half of his ship has illegal equipment in it."

"Kyp we need to be careful about how we do this. Charging into an Imp patrol with a stolen ship isn't going to bring Miko back."

"He was getting good enough that we could have taken on almost any Hunter that came after us."

"We can talk more about this later Kyp, let's go."

Kyp nodded to himself, then with a pull of the Hyperdrive lever the stars elongated sending them into the swirl of hyperspace.

Kyp turned around in the seat to look at the young scientist. Her eyes were closed and she was tired but she couldn't sleep.

"Danni. It's going to be ok. We're going to get you to a safe place. If the Empire hasn't found it in all these years I'm sure these... these Vong can't."

"Miko saved me. He could have escaped if he had left me but he didn't. Everything I ever learned about the Rebels and Jedi when I was little portrayed them as terrorists and people who wanted to fragment the Empire. Take away our security. But you're not like that are you?"

"Not _all_ of us are like that no. But sometimes we don't have any choice but to find criminals and killers to do the fighting."

"Are you like that?"

"Me? I'm worse. A smuggler got me off Kessel when I was fifteen then I was picked up by a member of the Sith Order." 

The woman might have laughed at the absurdity of that statement but she was too worn out.   
"Sith arn't real, those are just stories to frighten little children."

"And yet evil Jedi who turned against the Emperor are real?"

"Well... um."

"An Inquisitor trained me in the Dark side of the Force for a few years before someone helped me escape." Kyp turned around so that he was facing forward in his seat. "I've been learning whatever I can about the Force ever since."

"But these Aliens, you had such a hard time fighting them. I thought Jedi could predict someone's actions."

"We can't feel these new aliens through the Force for some reason. It's like they arn't there... or worse. It doesn't make any sense."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"Do? What are we supposed to do about it? I'm not exactly a Jedi of the Old Republic that can go and ask for a huge fleet of ships to save the Galaxy."

"What _are_ you going to do then?"

"Wait for the Empire to respond to them and try to help people out of the crossfire. This is something to be used against the Empire and the Sith, as much as I hate these newcomers. With any luck they'll wipe each other out and the Republic can be rebuilt from the ashes."

+++ 

Taulen approached Dorja on the command platform, saluting as he neared. "Commander Kirrek is secured in general Quarters sir. He didn't protest just asked what was going on to which we replied with your ah... suggestion."

"Sir are we sure he's a spy?" Asked Wintle. "He's been head of the Auxiliary bridge crew for months now. Surely he could have caused more damage than to a single powercell."

Dorja waved it off. "We'll keep him locked up for a few days until we can determine how the explosion was caused. Through what terminals and the like." He nodded to Taulen to take his leave.

"That could be difficult sir." Wintle continued. "Some of our internal security resources were never brought back up after having the main computer turned off. Internal sensors for those sections were off for more than twenty four hours."

"Who noticed they were off?"

"Taulen did, after we arrived in system."

The Admiral threw his hands up in the air. "That means just about anyone with the skills, and motives could have done it!"

"There are certain security codes that could have made things easier on a saboteur. But they're held by everyone from you down to the senior Lieutenants. Even Colonel Fel and some of the pilots have the access necessary to make the sabotage easier. The person had to be technically proficient in this kind of ship maintenance though."

"Maintenance? You're saying it could even be an enlisted crewman now if someone gave them access codes. We could probably put five thousand people on this ship under suspicion right now." He stopped and put a hand to his forehead. "Emperor's Black Bones, we even had crewmen from Right to Rule aboard."

Wintle had his datapad in hand scrolling through damage reports. "We can still be ready to go in three days if nothing happens to the Hyperdrive transfer."

"We should have just left the civilians here and gone right away. Now we don't have any choice but to switch out the drives."

The sensors officer called out to the senior officers. "Freighter Convoy arriving in system. We're detecting a great deal of encoded com chatter. Most of it is directed at Dal-porath One."

"Any open com traffic?" Asked the Commander.

"Some sir. Most of it is questioning if the local operations have been nationalised by the Empire and why a Star Destroyer and escort are here."

"Obviously Mr. Lane's customers prefer their anonymity." Mumbled a smirking Dorja. "Sensors if you can get high quality scans of the freighter's engine signatures do so. Don't bother with the IFF signals they'll all be fakes."

"Aye sir."

"Mr. Lane may be trying to run a Neutral Port but that doesn't mean we can't do some spying while we're here."

"Engine match on an Action V transport at the outer edges of the freighter convoy. Intel lists her as the Etherway. Known smuggler."

"Keep an eye on them but don't tell Captain Graal about the smugglers. He may be stuck in the same space dock with them for a few days. Just tell him the keep an eye towards security. Commander, lets try to get this ship into working order." 

+++ 

Fitzgibbon Lane presided over a counsel of mining colony leaders, Freighter captains and smugglers that had come to call Dal-porath their home over the years. Most were understandably nervous with an Imperial Star Destroyer hanging in a low orbit over the main colony. Even so, various Captains present had also brought pilots from their escort units to learn tactics from Colonel Fel. The flight school, which had twelve Imperial pilots as instructors, had most people on edge. Most of the pilots being former smugglers detested being told what to do by Imperials but Lane saw it as the only way.

After a few hours, when the pilots started demonstrations in the simulators, things began to calm down. The same could not be said for the counsel chamber where Lane was trying to keep the peace.

"I have been assured by the Admiral that those who choose to flee can find refuge at either Agamar or Toprawa. They both have good sized ports and can handle large numbers if people decide to go."

The counsellor from the third colony stood up. "I'm not going to Toprawa to become a slave. Neither will the rest of my people."

The Captain of the Etherway who was sitting near Lane spoke up.

"These people don't want to leave their homes. It's understandable." She turned to lock eyes with the others at the table. "But as much as some of us may hate the Imperials this incident isn't a hoax. If these Aliens come we had best be prepared for it. And prepared to evacuate those that will have no place in a battlefield."

"Thank you Ms. D'ukal. We don't have to move everyone right now, or even anyone. We do need to be ready to save as many as possible though if an attack should happen. Captain Folen does not have the ships to hold back an attack the size of those seen at Yaga Minor, Bastion, or in the Raioballo Sector."

"We don't have the ships to move enough people." Argued an old Twi'lek.

"But we could insert metal sections in the cargo holds of the Super heavy Ore haulers." Suggested a young human towards the back. "Segment the larger bays into decks."

One freighter Captain agreed with the idea. "Why not? Most of the miners have stopped work for the time being because they're worried for their families. I volunteer my ship to be converted."

Then arguments started up over weather the miners had stopped because they were worried or because they wanted a few days off. 

Lane offered his hand to Shada D'ukal while the arguments went on in the background. "I'm glad you decided to show up. Was Karrde getting worried about me?"

"He did get your message. He was interested in what pirates attacked your com systems. So far we've gotten reports of two dozen different Pirate or Mercenary groups attacking com systems. The one that attacked you was the eighth one we could confirm. It's been happening everywhere at the same time. Karrde is desperate to find out who is pulling the strings on this one."

"If he sent you here that much is obvious. I still have the high end communications suite on my ship but even it doesn't have the kind of range we need on it's own without relays."

"We're working on that and we know the Imps are too. What we really need are some, well... alternative Intelligence resources."

Lane gave his most charming smile. "And the regular Intelligence resources arn't enough?"

Shada whispered harshly back. "You know what I mean. Any... Jedi that you may have contacts with."

"Ms.D'ukal I don't know where Karrde keeps hearing these crazy rumours from, but if I [idid[/i know any Jedi I would be sure to tell them to meet with you."

020

Note from the Author: Heavy editing to each previous chapters has now caused the section dividers to show up. Should be less confusing.


	21. Chapter 21

+++ 

High Admiral Burgan sat in his command chair aboard the Command class Super Star Destroyer Superior. Surrounding him were holographic displays showing readiness of the fleet. They only needed to wait for a few more ships to arrive before the fleet's departure.

"Victory Destroyers Rampant and Red Harvest have just come on station. Last Destroyers to check in should arrive in the next ten minutes." Called out the watch officer.

General Richardson stood in his normal place near the Admiral. "Not much point in keeping the regular Trooper compliment aboard every ship with a fleet this size. Even if we did find a force on the ground they'd surrender within minutes upon seeing a fleet this size."

"I never underestimate the importance of having troops available Jerej, you should know that by now."

"I do. Even so between the two fleets there's enough troops that we could get a foothold on Coruscant if need be."

"Victorious, Resolution, and Desolator have arrived and are taking up their stations in the Destroyer screen." Called the watch officer again.

"That's the last of them." Burgan punched in a series of commands on his chair's built in datapad before turning back to the General. "I want to have enough troops with us that we can pacify a potentially disturbed public. If we have to engage in a series of protracted ground operations I don't want to wait for additional troops to arrive."

The watch officer approached and saluted.

"Sir. Last ships have moved into position. Task Force One reports ready for hyperspace entry."

"Readiness of the Hypercom relay system?"

"Agamar orbital is online. All relay ships are operational."

"Status of Task Force Two?"

"Ithor Orbital has reported that Task Force Two is ready to jump at your order."

"All ships to commence jump in five minutes. All ships to prepare for extended state of battle readiness."

"Aye sir."

Jerej leaned in once the watch officer began to comply with the Admiral's orders. "We're finally on our way. This trip could take us longer than normal with so many ships to organise through jumps."

"Then it takes us a little longer. More time for you to personally inspect the secondary bridge and backup command centers aboard ship."

"Aye sir." Taking the hint Richardson saluted and headed for a turbolift.

+++ 

The Light Freighter Starry Frontier and three starfighters reverted to real space. Kyp in the lead fighter keyed his com. "Octa, you're on better terms with Lane than I ever have been, you call it in."

"He's not going to be happy talking to either of us, you know that."

Responded Octa.

"He might listen to you long enough for you to get through to him."

"You guys." Broke in Cheyden Toy, the freighter pilot. "I'm picking up an Imperial Star Destroyer and support ships in a low stationary orbit above Dal-porath One. The ore hauler convoy is also still in the system. They should have departed a half day ago."

"Sithspit!" Kyp swore. "Switch transponders to neutral!"

There were a few tense moments of silence that followed once everyone had switched their ID codes.

"Uh... hey you think we're ok?" Asked Toy, his youthful exuberance showing over the com.

"No, we're not ok. We don't have a choice though. Octa try to get Lane but hail by way of another colony."

"Ok Kyp." Replied a resigned Octa.

After several minutes of being redirected from the other Mining colonies Octa got through to the Administrator's line. The person on the other end wasn't who they were looking for though. A tall woman who looked like an aristocrat from the core worlds appeared on screen.

"This is Vice Administrator Tendra Risant. This is a priority channel so I hope that this is important."

Octa shook off her slight bit of surprise and pushed on "Hello, I'm trying to reach Mr. Lane on a confidential matter."

Tendra frowned. "If you're allied with any... unpopular groups you should leave now. We don't abide by your kind any more than we do the Empire. If you leave the system without trouble you won't be reported."

_Just great._ Thought Octa. The woman was obviously someone who believed in the whole neutrality status of the system. "I promise that we will leave without trouble but we have to talk to Mr. Lane first, it's very urgent."

"Fitz is in talks right now with merchant captains and can't be disturbed. We're in the middle of planning for possible evacuations."

"The Imps are closing down the system?"

"No, don't be silly. We pay enough to make the operation worth while. There's supposedly some kind of invasion from a new alien species. The Imperial Admiral that came aboard said he think's they've lost everything Rimward of Yaga Minor."

"The Yuuzhan Vong... it's already started." Octa murmured under her breath. Kyp must have felt her spike of emotions through the force because she felt him gently trying to reassure her, pushing calmness.

"I beg your pardon? What's already started?" Asked Tendra.

"Tell Lane we have vital information on the alien invasion. We can't broadcast it because the Imps might pick it up."

"Fine." The woman gave up clearly exasperated. "Come in to Dal-porath Two, he can meet you there later."

"Can you ask him to bring his personal transport?"

Tendra glared Turbolaser bolts back through the holo image. "We'll see." 

+++ 

"Three starfighters and one light freighter headed for Dal-porath Two colony." Reported sensors.

Wintle stood on the Command walkway overseeing operations as usual. "This system must be a natural way station for any number of malcontents. Sensors what kind of ships are they?"

"Two Z-95 uglies similar to the local variety, one Tandem X-wing and a light freighter. Total lifeforms... about ten-ish. Too far away to get an exact number."

"Record their IFF and engine readings. Flag them as possible Rebels for future reference."

"Aye sir."

"We may be busy now but we can always hunt them down later."

"Can't wait for that sir."

Dorja strode slowly towards the command walkway from the turbolifts. "Any new developments Commander?" He asked.

"Nothing major sir. A few suspected Rebels and pirates have dropped into the system at different times. We're recording engine and transponder readings for future use."

"It sounds like you want a job as a customs officer Commander." Accused the Admiral laughing lightly. "Time?"

"Several more hours yet before the Hyperdrive is ready."

"Fine, fine. The Mining colony is going to be ready if the aliens show up. The freighters should be ready to go before long. Twilight Wanderer should be fitted with the last of the Turbolasers Lane sold us within the week then they can escort the civilians out in an emergency."

"It still could be dangerous leaving them here. What if a Rebel force overruns the ship?"

"Not going to happen with more than half of Right to Rule's Stormtroopers aboard."

"It's still a risk sir."

"Commander, risk is just-"

"Enemy contact!" Yelled out sensors. "One Frigate Analog about midway towards the edge of the system."

"All hands, to Battle stations. Communications, contact the Mining Colonies, tell them to go on alert. Find Colonel Fel and get him and his fighters back aboard."

"Yes sir!"

"Options Commander?" Asked Dorja.

Wintle already had his datapad out. "Sevanar and the light Cruisers can be ready to perform a micro-jump in ten minutes. The heavier Mercenary ships like the Paragon are already high enough above the system's plane to jump."

"Begin loading the fighters in best shape aboard Sevanar but leave room for Fel's unit. If they get off the colony in time I want them aboard."

"Yes sir. I also have Captain Folen on the com for you."

Dorja stormed over to the nearest holo projector. "Put him through."

The Mercenary Captain's face appeared above the holo projector in seconds. "Admiral Dorja, a force of my ships are plotting a micro-jump to intercept the target you indicated. If you want we can wait for some of your ships to get ready before jumping."

"We're readying the Cruiser Sevanar as our own Hyperdrive is still offline. We'll be able to drop just over three squadrons of fighters into the mix. I'm keeping our light cruisers back so you're going to have to take out that ship."

"Understood. We have two squadrons of fighters forming up with us for when we jump, plus some independent ships from near Colony Two. According to the information you gave us that size ship should be able to carry one squadron of fighters yes?"

"We believe so. Or they might have been holding fighters back. It's hard to say."

"We'll I've seen some of the fighter tactics your Colonel was teaching. We should be able to overwhelm them with numbers if needed."

"Good luck Captain." Wished the Admiral before signing off. "Com, get me Devis."

Seconds later Commander Devis of the Sevanar was on. "Commander I hope you understand the situation."

"Yes sir Admiral. We jump in, unload our fighters then move in with the Mercenary ships and bludgeon the thing to death. Seems simple enough."

"Be ready for tricks, we can't charge out to rescue you."

"Understood sir. Be back soon."

Commander Wintle walked over. "Colonel Fel and the other pilots we sent over to the colony are now loading aboard Sevanar."

"Good. "

021


	22. Chapter 22

+++ 

"Be ready for a furball as soon as we launch." Said Jag over the squadron frequency.

Though there was space aboard the Sevanar for all thirty six fighters available, nine of those were going to jump using their own Hyperdrives. Some of the older fighters aboard were still being flown by formerly retired Tie pilots that had taken jobs as convoy escort. The light shields had seen seven of the refurbished Tie Fighters through the last battle.

"Captain Folen to all ships, jump in three... two... one."

Even inside the fighter Jag could feel the Cruiser jump to hyperspace and then drop back out right away. The Sevanar's flight controller came over the com as soon as the vibrations associated with Hyperdrive stopped. "All fighters launch!" Then they were pouring out of the bay and into space on the other side of the system.

Paragon and it's two escorts had dropped out of hyperspace slightly ahead and to starboard of Sevanar allowing the Imperial Cruiser to launch it's fighters without fear of being fired upon. Farther to starboard of the Mercenary ships were some independent's that had jumped from near Dal-porath Two.

Tarth Elsin called out enemy status over the squadron frequency. "Frigate Analog is launching fighters. One squadron of shards and... and two blastboat analogs by the looks of them."

"Acknowledged." Jag flipped his com over to a tactical frequency used by the squadron commanders. "All fighters hang back with the capital ships, wait for them to engage first."

A closer look at the sensors revealed burn marks on the hull of the frigate. They appeared to be in the same pattern the Ardent had inflicted on a ship during their last escape.

Sevanar finished launching the last of it's fighters and closed the hole in it's shields before accelerating to catch up with the Mercenaries. Before the ships could reach weapons range though, a second Frigate analog reverted from Hyperspace. This one was a bit larger than it's cousin and it was accompanied by two Corvette analogs. Eighteen shards and four more blastboat sized craft dropped from the hull.

Jag wanted very much to let out a long string of curses but none seemed to fit quite right. The fighters they could defeat but the Frigates could be another story. "Any fighters carrying missiles launch a barrage at the Frigates in three... two... one... Fire!"

Defenders, Avengers, Gunboats and a few of the uglies launched concussion missiles and torpedoes. Half were shot down by the cloud of shards swarming out at them. Many others were picked off by the singularity defences but a handful got through, hulling or blasting the exteriors of the ships. The actual damage was minimal though.

"Break by flights and engage." 

+++ 

"That second Frigate is going to complicate things." Mused Dorja as he watched the sensor feed. "And the enemy pilots look to be good. The Capital ships could be at a stalemate."

Sure enough, the Mercenary cruisers and the Sevanar reduced the speed of their approach. Attempting to water down the Frigates with long range fire.

"Damn it Devis that's not going to work in a fight like this." Cursed the Admiral as quietly as he could. Normal conservative tactics didn't seem to have any place in a battle with these Aliens. He had to hope the young Commander could make the right choices.

Wintle coughed lightly to get the Admiral's attention.

"Administrator Lane wishes to speak with you sir."

"What? Now?"

The Holoprojector activated showing the Administrator's head and some of his shoulders. "Mr.Lane the battle has just started in full. This isn't the best time."

"I'm contacting you to let you know that we're readying more Hyperdrive equipped fighters and a Corellian Gunship. It's up to you where they jump. They should be ready in another few minutes."

"Thank you Administrator. Any more force updates you have can be directed through Commander Wintle."

"There's one more thing. Information about the Aliens."

"What about them?"

"If we can drive these ships off I may have additional information on the aliens for you later today."

Dorja glanced to Wintle and pointed to his chrono. The Commander held up three fingers in response.

"If you can get that to us in three hours or less fine, otherwise don't bother we'll be gone by then." 

+++ 

Kyp swung the Tandem X-wing in behind one of the YuuzhanVong fighters the Imperials had taken to calling shards. The four Lasers cycled quickly on single fire pumping shot after shot of red beams into the space the fighter occupied. Each laser bolt was dragged into the defensive singularity positioned behind the fighter, protecting it completely. The Shard looped away to port revealing a plasma shot coming straight at them from one of the Frigates. Kyp barely managed to yank the controls to the side soon enough to save them and golden plasma glanced off the ventral shields.

"Watch it Kyp." Commed Octa. "That tandem is meant for bombing runs and Cap ship duty. It's not as maneuverable as an Interceptor."

The Jedi grimaced as he put the lumbering fighter through a long turn, taking pot-shots at fighters when he could. Danni turned and looked out the back window of the fighter and spotted a fighter coming up behind them. "Kyp behind us!"

Sensing Danni's surprise through the force he had already started to dodge by the time she said the fighter was behind them. He flipped the fighter up on it's Starboard S-foil and rolled in close to one of the Bayonet class light cruisers. A laser cannon on the cruiser tracked and fired at the pursuing Shard but the fighter had been expecting fire from the cruiser. It blocked or dodged any fire that came it's way then returned to the main engagement.

Not seeing any choice Kyp brought them around the edges of the engagement and joined up with Starry Frontier again. The second Z-95 ugly, the one not piloted by Octa, was dead in space it's cockpit burned completely off. The freighter now had a crater in the topside armour but seemed to be holding up.

"Cheyden what's your status?"

"We have shields back up now and the attack didn't breach the hull. We managed to shoot down one and wing another but lost our escort."

"We'll wait for Octa to rejoin us then make a run in at one of the blastboat sized lumps."

Before long Octa exited the swarm of fighters and took up formation with the freighter. Her fighter had taken a minor hit that had melted away a chunk of one wing.

"Those Imperial pilots are pretty good. The ones in the more maneuverable fighters are able to dodge most of the fire directed at them. Most of the Interceptors have the sense to hang around the shielded fighters to use them as cover."

"Yeah..." replied Kyp, glancing at sensors. "..but the Mercs are getting slaughtered out here in the time it takes them to kill one. The Imps are spending more time trying to not get killed than shooting."

In the middle of the dogfight a shielded Tie dodged the wrong way and was hit by plasma fire from a Blastboat analog. Three of the other blastboats had formed into a wedge formation and were starting to pick ships off one at a time, their combined defences able to protect them from most attacks.

"Ok we have to kill the other blastboats before they form up as well. Cheyden pick the closest one and head for it, we'll cover you."

The Corellian Freighter turned hard and accelerated straight toward the nearest enemy. The two fighters easily caught up to the freighter, spraying laser bolts towards enemies in it's way. The illegal quad lasers opened up when a pair of shards started to turn in their direction, forcing them to abandon their attack. Then their target was in range and Kyp launched a torpedo hoping to shake it up long enough for the quadlasers to do their work.

The missile disappeared down a singularity and so did most of the lasers but the combined fire from the three craft overpowered the defences and a handful of shots made it through to hit the vehicle body. Eventually the course of several lasers that had gone wide were pulled back by the mini black hole sending them into the blastboat's cockpit.

"One down a few more to go. Let's keep this up." Urged Kyp.

022


	23. Chapter 23

+++ 

Jag was keeping an eye on the situation as it progressed even as he fought to stay out from under the guns of the alien ships all around. The Imperial fighters were starting to take damage just like the previous engagements but the Mercenary fighters had been reduced by nearly half. Worse, the capital ships were not closing to the truly effective ranges needed in a fight like this to perform damage. Unless something changed soon the aliens were going to win the starfighter battle and then rake the cruisers.

A light on the com board went off indicating he was being contacted on the command frequency. "Fel this is Dorja, don't respond. We're sending more fighters and an anti-starfighter corvette in soon. Be ready to take advantage. The other ships already know and are going to use the confusion to attack the Frigate analogs."

Noting the information away in the back of his mind Jag went into another hard turn to shake off a pursuer for the hundredth time. A stray plasma shot punched through the shields of the Gauntlet and melted away most of the wing laser that was equipped to the port side modular mount. The impact sent the Tie into a flat spin crushing Jag against the restraints.

By the time he levelled out the spin his speed had dropped sharply leaving him in path of an oncoming blastboat analog. Before the Alien ship could burn him down, three streams of red laser fire converged on it's side. Voids appeared in their path to absorb most of them but the blue tail of a torpedo flashed in front of the craft and detonated reducing it to rubble.

"Thanks for the assist." Commed Jag as a light freighter flew past escorted by two fighters.

"Don't mention it." Replied the freighter pilot. "Seriously it'll make me look bad."

Kicking the ion engines to full power and catching up with the group Jag watched as the quad lasers on the freighter menaced any vehicles that came near by. The inaccuracy and high rate of fire of the ship's weapons seemed to help it score minor hits. The damaged was just enough to make the alien fighters back off and think twice about engagement while there were easier targets nearby.

Commander Devis' voice came over the com. "All fighters, reinforcements will be arriving in... three... two... one."

And right on que a Corellien Gunship reverted from hyperspace flanked by two more squadrons of fighters. Eight Y-wing mark two's, and similar numbers of modified Tie Bombers and an Ugily variant built around an A-wing's sublight drives.

The Y-wings and bombers launched missiles and torpedoes at the dog fighting shards. The A-wing uglies waited until the missile barrage was away before heading in close behind. The Y-wing's, their turrets armed with different weapons packages, targeted the group of three blastboats. Laser, Ion cannon and even a few Turbolaser bolts flew in at the now hard pressed group of ships.

The Corellian Gunship went right down the middle of the engagement. Twenty four Laser cannon and sixteen Turbolasers sent blazing fire in all directions. Sevanar and Paragon wasted little time moving into position to protect the smaller ship from the Frigate analogs. Before long the two heavier ships had formed up together with the light cruisers flanking them while the Gunship made fast unpredictable orbits around and between them. When roughly two thirds of the shards and blastboats were dead hulks or debris floating in space the remainder pulled back to the Frigates.

"They're going to run." Warned Jag.

The two Frigates held their ground though, launching punishing salvos at the two heavier ships. With the Mercenary and Imperial fighters now forming up, Laser bolts started to penetrate the defensive voids more often.

Sevanar and Paragon both had forward shields doubled, leaving their aft exposed but letting them survive the hits they were taking. At the last moment the two Frigates split away from one another, the heavier withdrawing, the lighter damaged one heading straight in.

The surviving shards flocked to the larger ship and took their places in the pitted hull. With fighter opposition removed all Imperial and mercenary ships concentrated fire on the Frigate the aliens had sacrificed. Even with all of the fighters and ships pouring fire into it, the alien vessel still managed to batter down the shields of a Bayonet light cruiser and smash it's flaming hull into the diminutive ship.

The larger alien ship jumped to hyperspace headed back deeper into the areas out of contact with the Empire.

"This is Dorja to all Imperial ships, assist in rescue and recovery operations." 

+++ 

Kyp, and Octa's fighters along with the Starry Frontier reverted to real space following their micro jump back across the system to Colony Two. They had opted out of rescue work claiming that their ships had sustained damage and that they needed to reach repair facilities in one of the colonies. It wasn't entirely a lie. Kyp's Tandem X-wing had taken more than mere shield damage from the Frigate's near miss. One of the ship's redundant engines had been scoured from the underside hull. The shields and inertial compensator were also badly worn out and in need of replacement.

The portside wing and engines on Octa's fighter were near the breaking point and the Starry Frontier was going to take days to fix. "They hit us so hard the cannons were knocked out of alignment in the quad laser turrets." Complained Cheyden.

"Leave them." Suggested Octa. "Your gunners seemed to have an easier time getting hits later on in the battle."

Kyp helped Danni down from the fighter once they landed. "Stay close, we won't be here long."

Some civilian hanger techs and mechanics wandered over to look at the battered ships as the pilots gathered near the base of the freighter's landing ramp. Starry Frontier's four man crew poured out as if they were half expecting the ship to explode. Noises like pops and pings could be heard as the hull cooled.

"What now?" Asked the young human skipper looking to Kyp.

"Now we wait for Lane. If he was paying attention at all while that battle went on he should be here soon."

While they waited a hanger mechanic came over. "Are you going to be having these ships fixed, or do them yourselves?"

"Well, I think we're going to sell the fighters. Toy, you and your crew can decide want you want to do. Perhaps you can sign on with the Mercenaries here until the colony evacuates."

"Evacuate?" Balked the mechanic. "I'm sure as the Sith not running away from here. It took enough running just to get here." The others shook their heads in agreement.

"You'll run from this system if you want to live." Pressed Octa.

Their conversation was interrupted by a SoroSuub Luxury Yacht 3000 entering the bay. It's name plate was painted out and any identifying features had been removed at first glance. Kyp knew where to look for the slightly larger bulges of advanced sensor packages and concealed weapons. Kyp and Octa with Danni trailing behind were already headed for the landing ramp as the ship's landing gear touched down.

When the ramp finally lowered the trio found themselves staring up at the impeccably dressed Colony Administrator, complete with a matching cape.

Danni spoke first. "How does the leader of a backwater colony like this have the money to pay for clothing like that!"

Lane put on his best smile and strode down the ramp to greet them. "So I see you've taken up helping Imperials for a living now. I never would have expected it of you."

Kyp shrugged. "If we hadn't then your colony might have been overrun, though that wasn't a big force."

"Well thank you for the help. Now, you said you had information about these Aliens."

"Yes. They call themselves the Yuuzhan Vong. They're from outside of the galaxy. Danni Quee here is... was a member of ExGal, they look for life outside of the galaxy. They found it or vice versa. Belkadan and Helska were some of the first places hit, we don't know what else."

"How long ago was that?"

"It took us a long time to get here. We stopped over at a dug-in base on the other side of Bimmiel for two weeks to hide out. They searched the system for several days then came back a week later. It might have taken us five weeks to get here total."

"When did you first encounter them?"

"Almost two weeks before that."

"I hope you have all of this on a datapad because I can't just tell the Imperials all of this straight out."

Danni handed Lane a datapack. "That has all of the data we gathered about the Aliens on it except for one thing." She looked to Kyp.

"The Yuuzhan Vong can't be felt or affected through the Force."

"Wait isn't that impossible? I thought all living things existed in the force."

"That was the theory. This may be a loophole. Now, we need the Lady Luck."

Lane glanced around to be sure no one was within hearing range. "Would you stop calling it that? You're going to get me caught. It's the Stardream now. I'm trying to be an honest businessman." As honest as one could be with the Empire running things.

"We need to reach Traest Kre'fey with this information and to do that we need to cross Imperial Space. Your ship is the only way to do it in time."

Lane sighed. "I'll have to talk to Tendra first but then I want you out of here as soon as possible. Use ID presets two and three once you leave the system. The Ardent has been doing sensor sweeps so stay behind the asteroids as much as possible."

023


	24. Chapter 24

-1

+++ 

"Casualty reports sir." Said Wintle, handing the Admiral a datapad.

Dorja glanced at it then paged through the included damage reports.

"Nearly all fighters damaged again. Some completely destroyed others with cockpits shot out... And one quarter of our pilots dead."

"Some of the pilots were able to eject." Reminded the Commander.

"Yes, and the Interceptors did better this time then in previous fights. Only four vehicle losses." The older man sighed. "It's still too high though. Our Gunboats have been halved and the shielded Tie/ln's were decimated. The only fighter to not take damage was the A-wing and it hardly fired a shot the whole time."

"It's too bad we can't buy that CR-110c Gunship that the Colony sent out. It seems like it would be a match for any Lancer II Frigate."

"No, they already lost one ship and I won't leave them defenceless if the aliens should return. The Carrack Cruisers should have enough point defence weapons to get us through to the fleet."

"Yes sir. The Sevanar reports that they should have starfighter debris recovered within the hour. The Tie Defenders and Assault Gunboats are going to micro jump back to our position so that more room is available in Sevanar's landing bay."

"Fine. Once our hyperdrive is online we can get out to the battle site and try to salvage a few more Tie parts from destroyed uglies. If the Merc's have any problems with it tell them to have Lane contact me. Wait... didn't Lane say he was going to contact me already?"

+++ 

"Fitz what's taking you so long over on Colony Two?" Asked Tendra over a secure com. "The Imperial Admiral wants to talk to you before he jumps out of the system."

"I had to deal with a few things. I'm afraid I won't be seeing my ship for a few weeks. Perhaps months."

"Dammit Fitz you promised me! You said the Rebellion was in the past and that it wasn't going to interfere with us here."

"I'm sorry Tendra, I'll make it up to you. This is big and I owed them."

"Just call the Admiral so he isn't breathing down my neck. I have evacuations to organise. People are nearing panic over here since the battle."

"It's the same here. I'll catch a shuttle over to the main colony after I make that call."

"Stay safe."

"You too." 

+++ 

The Ardent's Operations officer had been calling out systems updates to the navigator for the last few minutes. "Hyperdrive primary check complete, beginning check of secondary power feeds."

"Sirs, call coming in for the Admiral. It's Administrator Lane."

A sense of urgency was starting to nag at the back of Dorja's mind, that they needed to get under way in a hurry. "Put it through on the main display. We've waited long enough."

Lane's image materialised at the front of the bridge a few steps away from the Admiral.

"Get to it Lane, we have to get out of here."

"I'm sorry it took so long, I needed to see a contact of mine who had recently returned. I'm transmitting the data I picked up to you now. The Aliens call themselves the Yuuzhan Vong and are believed to be from another galaxy. An Imperial science station that was part of the ExGal program detected what is believed to be the first of their ships entering the galaxy at least two months ago."

"A species from beyond the galaxy? That shouldn't be possible, the galaxy is surrounded by a giant hyperspace disturbance. I know, I've been to the edge of the galaxy."

"Well in either case that's where my information says they're from. They [iare[/i humanoid and utilize a sort of... living technology." He stopped to re-check a few more points of information he'd made. "They also seem to have a severe technophobia and may be somewhat religious."

The Communications officer gave the Admiral and Commander a thumbs up sign from the crew pit.

"We have the last of your transmission now. Is there anything else we need to know that can't wait for us to read the report?"

"Yes two things. They are fierce fighters on the ground and can easily kill with their bare hands. They also seem to have some way of mimicking human appearance. One infiltrated an ExGal station for an undetermined period of time. More than half a year."

"Are they some kind of shape shifter race?"

"No. The source described it as a sort of second skin."

Dorja threw Wintle a concerned look. "We could be in trouble." He mused for a second or two trying to think of the possibilities. "Um... get a Doctor to check both of our prisoners. Make sure they have escorts. And tell the medics I want checks of everyone that hasn't had a full physical while aboard."

"Aye sir!"

"Mr. Lane thank you for the help, we need to be going."

"I understand Admiral. Luck be with you."

The hologram flickered and disappeared.

"Flight control do we have the Defenders and Gunboats aboard yet?"

"Yes sir, they just came aboard."

"Good. Helm take us out near the battle site. Jump there when we get our Hyperdrive online."

"Yes sir." 

+++ 

Jag flew CAP in his still damaged Gauntlet along with the A-wing fighter. The small debris field was mostly centered around the destroyed Bayonet Cruiser and Frigate analog. Some of the recovery shuttles, when not busy hauling pieces of tie craft to a point near the Sevanar, were gathering pieces of the enemy Frigate.

Ardent reverted above the assembled ships followed soon after by the two old Carrack Cruisers. Support and recovery vehicles launched and headed for the debris near Ardent while an AT-AT transport went for the pieces of the Alien Frigate. Fighters capable of limited flight launched from Sevanar and headed for the Ardent's main bay.

A voice came over the com.

"Ardent Flight control to Colonel Fel."

"Fel here."

"You and your wing are ordered to return to the Ardent and prepare for hyperspace transition."

"Acknowledged."

As he came about Jag scanned the surviving Mercenary fighters. Most of the second wave's vehicles were unhurt, being either more maneuverable or heavily shielded. The first wave was in a sorry state. Of the two squadrons sent into the battle early, only eight fighters remained.

The Light freighter and escort fighters that had saved him earlier were nowhere to be seen. He hadn't seen the vehicle shot down and there was no debris matching a Corellian freighter. When he checked back through the sensor logs it showed the ships fleeing into hyperspace moments after the battle. In the direction of one of the other Mining Colonies. Com logs showed they had backed out of recovery duty due to heavy damage.

"Their damage wasn't was as severe as they claimed. I may need to speak with the Admiral about them later."

Jag settled his fighter into a launch rack aboard Ardent and powered down. Another battle past, now they just had to get to an Imperial strong point. Just another day or two. 

+++ 

The Lady Luck cleared the last few of the asteroids that had been shielding them from the Imperial sensors, but also preventing a clear hyperspace jump.

"Plot a series of jumps that will take us to the Tion Hegemony." Instructed Kyp. "I know a contact there that can show us the fastest way to Kre'fey."

Once the sleek Luxury liner had entered hyperspace Kyp left the controls and went back to the luxurious cabins to find Danni. Despite the rings of tiredness under her eyes she sat upright on the edge of a bed waiting. "What happens to me when we get to... to wherever it is we're going?"

"That will depend on the Admiral and you. If the Admiral thinks you can be of any help to us he'll ask you to stay. If you want to leave we can set you down some place after where you can easily reach authorities. It could turn out to be dangerous either for you or us to let the Empire get hold of you though. You have force potential and one of the Emperor's minions will want to either train you as an apprentice or kill you off."

Danni lowered her head. "What if I'm a threat to you some how?"

"We'd find a safe house on some world for you that you couldn't leave. Maybe a moisture farm on Tatooine." Kyp smiled reassuringly. "It wouldn't be so bad, no big crowds since you don't really like to be around a lot of people. Lots of open space..."

Something clicked in for a second as Danni realised she'd never told any of the Rebels about why she left the Core regions. "Get out of my head!" She yelled at Kyp putting her arms over her head as if she could ward off the mental intrusions.

Kyp grimaced. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that." He approached slowly, hand outstretched. "It's ok I won't do that again."

"Get away from me!" She screamed as she jumped back to the room's wall. Every negative thing she had ever heard about Jedi boiling to the forefront of her mind creating a barrier of thoughts and memories a lesser trained force user wouldn't have been able to easily penetrate. Kyp was about to push past those barriers and force her to calm down but changed his mind. He slowly backed toward the doorway, hands raised.

"I'm sorry." He repeated them stepped out the door and headed back to the cockpit. He couldn't believe how stupid he'd been pulling a stunt like that.

Octa looked up when he entered and took a seat having noticed the turbulent emotions he was putting out. "What did you do? You weren't back there ten minutes."

"Nothing."

"I hope you didn't just make a pass at her."

"I said it was nothing. Now lets see if we can shave off some travel time."

024


	25. Chapter 25

+++ 

Garm Bel Iblis stood facing the gathered Rebel Commanders of the Kathol Sector. He was the oldest in the room, the only surviving 'old Rebel' left in this group. They all knew why they were here. Most had dropped everything and rushed here as fast as possible when they had been told that The General was planning an operation.

This wasn't a regular operation though. This one would have effects reaching well out of the sector. Evidence of this was clear especially with a thin plain-faced man none of them had met before accompanying the General.

"I'm sorry I had to call you back so quick." said Iblis, conversing with Jaden Kral the 'representative' that had approached him a week before. "I didn't expect to be ready so soon to be honest."

"That's quite alright. These sorts of surprises are always welcome ones."

Iblis turned to face those sitting or standing around the room's circular holo conference table and cleared his throat loudly.

"We'll skip most of the formalities today and get straight into it. This is Jaden Kral, a representative of a group that wishes to take a crack at defeating the Empire."

There were a few chuckles from those assembled but the old warrior pushed on. "I'm quite serious about this. Their group claims to be responsible for the combined attacks on Imperial Hypercom transmission and relay centers. Kral has given me details concerning the extent of the resulting com blackouts and Iella has confirmed most of them."

Iblis looked to each in the room. "They would like our allegiance but will settle for a non-aggression pact for the time being. I can't offer an Alliance unless the heads of the other major Rebel groups and factions agree."

"My group is patient enough to wait." said Kral offering a small bow of his head.

"The were some initial concerns over the ease of your arrival here."

Iella spoke up. "I've confirmed he's not a member of Imperial Intelligence."

A young man in a hooded robe leaned over a railing from the upper tiers of the room. "He's not human either." He shouted accusingly.

Everyone turned and looked over to the brown robed figure.

"What do you mean?" Questioned Iella.

"You remember why you went to the bother of recruiting me right?" Asked Wurth directing the question at the General.

Iblis grinned slightly and turned to their guest. "Our friend Wurth Skidder has some talent in some things outside the normal."

Kral looked warily toward the young man then back to the general. "Your... friend is correct, I am not human. What I am should not affect our transactions though. After all, the Rebellion is supposed to be a safe haven to people regardless of species."

He looked back to Wurth.

"Perhaps I am just somewhat different from other's you've met before."

"He's gotta be a spy." Muttered Skidder as he turned away.

Iblis yelled after him before he could get out the door. "Thank you for bringing that up Wurth, I'll talk to you later. " He turned his attention to the others. "But the main topic here is our contribution. If we start moving now how much of a difference could we make. Or should we just sit back and watch as another contender get's it's legs shot out by the Empire?

Page was shaking his head. "I don't like the Empire more than anyone else here but we need time. We don't have enough assets coreward of the Sluis Sector, Intel or otherwise, to get us far. I'm for an offensive against the Empire, but not for another two months or so."

"That's one view. Thank you Page. Tycho?"

The now grey haired former Tie Pilot stood up. "Page is right about preparedness but we don't know how long it's going to be before the Imperials fix their com difficulties. If we threw everything we had right now into a well co-ordinated attack we might take the Kathol sector inside of the week or two, then we could push along the Rimma far enough to cut off the Elrood Sector and Minos Cluster."

"Try for a full Sabacc is what you're saying."

"If the other Rebel cells like New Vergesso base were to see us doing well they might join in."

Iella Wessiri wore a pained expression. "We need more time but we also need access to the few manufacturing facilities in this sector to stand a chance. People we can find but materiel is what we really lack. I have key area's in this sector ready to fall when we need them to. Our Intel for the sectors we do know about won't last long. I say we go now, as soon as we can."

"Cracken?"

"I'm not getting any younger, let's do this. My strike squadrons are ready for a fight. If I keep them masquerading as pirates any longer they're not going to listen to me."

Iblis nodded. "I'm in favour of going sooner while we can. I've noted the objections and reasons against going but they're out weighed. Will any of you have trouble convincing your groups to go?"

A chorus of no's ensued.

"Good. Tycho we're going to go with a mixed Plan Beta and Case Twelve. Have Darklighter get Mon Remonda ready."

"Gotcha."

The General turned back to their guest. "Mr. Kral I believe you should have a distraction taking place on this side of the Empire before long. I don't think we're ready to truly solidify an alliance with you at this time but we'll keep that option open."

"I'll be sure to inform my organisation not to attack any Mon Cal cruisers in this area should we ever get this far." 

+++ 

Iblis found Wurth Skidder waiting outside of his office, pacing back and forth.

"Skidder get inside and take a seat."

The door hissed open and both men stepped inside, passing the secretary and the armoured door into the General's working office. Once inside the Corellian pulled out a large bottle of Whyren's Reserve from a shelf and filled two small glasses. He handed one to the young Jedi.

"You're twitchier than a Verpine with it's head shot off. Take a drink and tell me about our new friend."

Skidder sipped slowly at the small drink then tossed back the last few drops near the end. "I suppose I wasn't the blindingly pure example of a Jedi in there that people want."

"No, and you could try being a bit more civil with people we barely know, but that's not the issue here."

"Right well... he wasn't there. I could see him, hear him, I probably could have walked up and touched him. But he did not exist in the Force. Every fibre of my being was screaming that he couldn't possibly be standing there."

"Another force user perhaps? Or someone with a ysalamir?"

"No, no, neither of those. I would have been able to tell. This was like he was devoid entirely of the force. I doubt I could have affected him with any of my force powers..." He looked away for a second then turned back grinning. "Short of dropping a heavy object on him."

Iblis patted him on the shoulder. "I don't think we should be testing that right away. I'm glad to hear about your concern though."

The General stood up and looked out the viewport. "What part do you want to play in the upcoming missions? We can always find room for a Jedi somewhere."

"I'd like to go out with one of the smaller raiding groups. The main forces will have enough experienced people. I want to be some place where my presence will make a difference."

"I'm fine with it, go ask Tycho to find a group for you. Nicely if you can."

025


	26. Chapter 26

+++ 

A Mark Three Victory Destroyer reverted to real space in the emptiness between stars half way between Agamar and Yaga Minor. Dozens of smaller ships, cruisers, frigates and Corvettes snapped into reality all around it. Then Imperial Star Destroyers and more Victory Destroyers followed, eventually culminating in the arrival of the command ship Superior. Two giant Imperial symbols graced the hull to either side of the bridge tower, laid out in green tinted metal against the ship's gleaming hull.

High Admiral Burgan surveyed his fleet's progress from the bridge then turned to his friend.

"You were right, this is taking longer than planned."

Richardson shrugged. "I hate it when I'm right, it usually means something bad has happened."

The Admiral sat down in his command chair.

"What's the status of Task Force Two? Are they being held up queuing through the hyperspace lanes like we are?"

"It doesn't look that way. They may be ahead of schedule. I read somewhere that Admiral Ackron is some kind of Hyperspace wave guide expert. Good at figuring out how close together and in what formations he can jump his ships. It keeps large groups like this moving smoothly."

Burgan growled. "This is turning into a mess keeping ships in formation. Easier for the closer Star Destroyers but not much else. All we can manage is a screening formation with the support ships to keep them out of the way."

"We could have gone in with an all large ship force. Less to organise."

"No. This fleet gives us flexibility depending on what we find. We just need to make the best of it."

He paused and thought a moment.

"Contact Ackron. If we haven't caught up to him by the time he's one jump out from the target, he's to hold and wait for us to get into position."

"Understood." 

The Swirl of Hyperspace dissipated as Ardent dropped into real space. All three escorts were in their assigned positions, Sevanar just ahead and below with the Carrack Cruisers to either side of the Destroyer.

Dorja paced to the front of the bridge, hands clasped behind his back.

"We're getting closer Commander, I can feel it. A few more hours and we can stand down for a month or so."

"We have two jumps left sir. Total travel time works out to fourteen hours."

"Good. How are we doing with checking for infiltration?"

"Neither of our prisoners appear to have anything wrong with them, and the medics have started into physicals on different crew members."

"That should take what, a couple of weeks to complete?"

"Yes. We also have to do checks on the pilots that came over from the Right to Rule."

"Pilots... speaking of pilots, do we have enough? I know that the techs have been putting vehicles back together from debris."

The Commander checked his datapad.

"They've finished a second A-wing and repaired the Gauntlet that had it's wing pylon shot out at Gravlex Med. Repairs have been completed on most of the Interceptors that survived the last fight and six more have been rebuilt."

"That gives us... eleven Interceptors and seven Gauntlets."

"Yes sir. Also the work on the Defenders will be finished before we get to Agamar."

"That's good news. Tell the techs that if they can get it done I want both the Assault Gunboat's up as well."

"Hyperspace reversion detected!" Yelled the sensors officer.

Both of the senior officers turned. "What have we got and how much?"

"One Xg-5 Star Wing, standard Assault Gunboat. It's noticed us and has changed course to intercept."

Dorja walked over to stand near the com officers station. "Hail it. Commander ready some alert fighters."

"Aye."

The Com officer held a hand to one ear. "Star Destroyer Ardent to incoming Assault Gunboat please respond and state your intentions."

"This is Gunboat Oh Four off of the Destroyer Entor. I am being pursued by some kind of mobile Asteroid. It's followed me through two jumps and I've been cut off from my ship. Over."

It was at that moment that two Corvette Analogs reverted just behind the Gunboat. Their plasma cannon started throwing globs of orange fire within seconds.

"Quick! You have to tell the Admiral before the strike fleet gets to Yaga Minor! You can- AAAGHH-" The com was filled with static as the plasma shots connected with the unshielded fighter causing it to exploded.

"Shields to full! Target those corvettes!"

At the Admiral's command, bright green Turbolaser bolts poured forth from all four ships. But the Corvettes were out of range and easily dodged the fire before fleeing into hyperspace. Dorja slammed a fist against a nearby console.

Wintle was quickly at the Admiral's side. "Sorry sir. We have eight fighters prepping to launch but it would have taken us five minutes. Even if we'd known..."

"I know, there's nothing we could have done, he was too far away."

The older man stopped and took several deep breath's to steady himself.

"Change of plans, we're going back to Yaga Minor."

"Sir?"

"There's an Imperial strike fleet headed in towards Yaga Minor. I want to get to them before the enemy does. We have to go ourselves, we have no idea where that Gunboat's carrier is or even it it's still around."

"Alright." Wintle walked over to the edge of the crew pit. "Navigation, plot the fastest direct route to Yaga Minor and plot likely routes that a fleet would take from Agamar to the same place."

"So much for a vacation." Wintle muttered under his breath once his orders were being carried out.

026


	27. Chapter 27

+++ 

Taskforce One dropped out of hyperspace much as it had at previous navigation points on the trip from Agamar. This time was different though.

"Holocom re-established with Taskforce Two via Agamar and fleet relays." Reported the Communications officer.

"Status of Taskforce Two?" Asked Burgan.

"Report coming in from Admiral Ackron. They have been holding position one jump distance from Yaga Minor, as ordered, for the past three hours. They have held off sending recon ships into the system itself."

"Good, he obviously has a sense for more things than just hyperspace mechanics."

"Sir, Taskforce Two reports they have also been detecting asteroid like contacts appearing some distance away for the past half hour despite still being one jump away from Yaga Minor. I- One moment sir."

The Com officer stopped and began sending back confirmation codes to ensure their signal wasn't being compromised then turned back to the Admiral.

"Taskforce Two reports that they are being engaged by a fleet of asteroid-like ships. The ships micro-jumped to their position. The enemy fleet is equivalent to sixty percent of the tonnage of task force two."

Burgan gave an astonished look to Richardson. "Asteroids! Well now there's something we don't see often."

He turned his attention to one of the officers and raised his voice enough to be heard.

"Master Helmsman can we make a jump directly to Force Two's current position?"

The experienced naval officer input a few coordinates into the computer charts then turned in the Admiral's direction. "Yes sir! But it is a very narrow route."

"We'll chance it. Captain, have a flight of scouts continue on to Yaga Minor. Send two light cruisers along with them. They're to send all data back to the Holocom relay ships and to retreat if they find anything dangerous."

"Yes Admiral."

"Course plotted." Reported the Master Helmsman. "It will take several minutes to reposition the fleet to jump sir."

Burgan waved off the man. "Jump when ready. Com, tell Force Two that we should be to their position in minutes. And get a feed of the battle, I want to see how things are progressing."

The large overhead holographic projectors activated and soon were showing feeds from Taskforce Two. The now badly distorted hypercom signal was just clear enough to make out what was happening. A concentrated sphere of objects -obviously the asteroid ships- were pushing hard towards the Super Star Destroyer at the center of group Two.

Hundreds of small asteroid fragment like fighters formed a defensive screen for the largest ships, soaking off the worst of the Turbolaser fire coming in at them. Several asteroid ships the size of Frigates or light cruisers broke up under the combined fire of two or three Star Destroyers apiece. Orange plasma poured out from the asteroid ships, impacting shields or wiping away Tie fighter formations. At the center of the enemy formation sat a ship larger than an Allegiance Destroyer. The huge enemy ship reached the remainder of the defensive screen formed by smaller Destroyers, just as Cruiser and Destroyer sized Asteroids were passing the heavier Destroyers surrounding the Command ship. The Cruiser analogs slowed as withering fire from the Command ship pelted them, turning space the bright green of Turbolaser fire.

The Admiral turned away for a second to talk to Richardson. "I want the status displays of our largest ships in Group Two. See what kind of damage they're taking."

"All hands prepare for hyperspace entry." Called the Master Helmsman over the inter-ship com.

Jerej plugged a datapad into the Admiral's command chair. "The status of the ships sir."

Half of the displays linked to the command chair previously showing Fleet status of Taskforce One switched over. The holographs indicating shield strength of Ackron's fleet held well above sixty percent for most of the ships. The Command ship's was still at ninety five percent.

"Hyperspace jump in three... two..."

The shields winked out of existence on half of the Destroyers.

"One..."

The forward shields disappeared from Ackron's Command ship and the other Heavy Destroyers.

Then they were in swirl of hyperspace, cut off from holocom. Something had gone horribly, horribly wrong and it took all of his will to keep a small scream from escaping.

He instead sublimated the noise into a command. "General!"

Richardson was there in a second. "Sir?"

Forcing the practiced calmness and tactical logic that had gotten him this far, the Admiral went into problem solving mode.

"Before we jumped the shields failed suddenly on all of the heaviest ships in group Two. It was not a display malfunction. Does a weapon exist that could neutralize shields so easily?"

"How suddenly?"

Burgan snapped his fingers for emphasis on 'sudden.'

The General frowned. "I'm not aware of one. There are slower acting devices but they require lots of power and take longer to cause effect than say, standard Ion Cannon do."

The Admiral nodded. "Right... Fine then. Invite our state guest to the bridge at once. If anyone would know about it, it might be her."

"Understood."

027


	28. Chapter 28

-1

+++ 

Ardent and it's escort ships dropped out of hyperspace for forty seconds, reoriented for the next jump and leapt back into hyperspace.

"Come on, come on." Whispered Dorja looking out through the forward viewports. "Don't be too late..."

"Sir?" Asked Wintle as he approached the front of the bridge. "Should we really be pushing the Hyperdrive so hard like this? It's just been installed, not all of the pathway connectors may be in place well enough to hold under our fastest rating with repeated use."

"We have to risk it. If there's a fleet headed to Yaga Minor we have to beat them there, or at least catch up in time to warn them."

The younger officer nodded solemnly. "Yes sir, but shouldn't we at the very least send one of the Carrack Cruisers the rest of the way to Agamar?"

"No. If an Interdictor caught them they wouldn't stand a chance. Likewise we need their anti-starfighter support. We all go or none of us go Commander."

"Aye."

The two stood there for a few minutes looking out into the endless swirl.

"I had an idea that could get us an additional pilot sir." The Commander brought up suddenly.

Dorja eyed him carefully. "Am I going to like it?"

"Not likely sir."

"Well shoot and get it over with."

"We put a self destruct device in one of the A-wings and see if we could interest the Rebel pilot in a decreased sentence when this is over."

The old Admiral leaned forward an laughed. "What, offer her five years in prison and extended probation?" He sighed and looked away for a second shaking his head.

"Why not? Ask her when we get a chance."

"Yes sir."

"And tell Colonel Fel about your plan. Bring him along with you." 

+++ 

Admiral Burgan and everyone else on the bridge of the Superior were shoved forward slightly as the swirl of Hyperspace abruptly ceased.

"Premature reversion!" Shouted the Master Helmsman. "Gravity wells detected!"

"Status Report!" Shouted the Admiral.

"Interdictor fields have been established across the hyperspace lane sir. It's completely blocked."

"We'll have to find the gravity generators and destroy them. Deploy half out Vindicators and some Frigates to hunt them down. They can launch fighters at their discretion."

"Yes sir."

"Re-establish our hypercom connection with Taskforce Two."

"I'm having trouble establishing signal sir." Replied the communications officer. "I no longer have com feeds from the Taskforce Two Command ship."

The Captain of Burgan's Command ship spoke up. "Sir we've detached a force to destroy the interdictors but it's come under attack."

"Captain, handle that problem with the Interdictors for a moment will you? Use your best judgement. Now... what is the status of Taskforce Two?"

The holofeed flickered back to life resuming it's grainy image. This time it was being transmitted from a Victory Destroyer. The ship's first officer was doing his best to quickly relay the status of the fleet.

"Command ship 'Imperial Splendor' is reported adrift and without power. Imperial class ships have all been crippled or destroyed. The outer Frigate and Light Cruiser shell is now in full retreat. They are currently being picked off by concentrated fire from enemy cruisers."

"Damn!" The Admiral slammed a fist down on the arm of his command chair. "Instruct all remaining ships from Taskforce Two to jump to our position. Captain, set our course for the interdictors. All ships ready weapons."

The doors to the bridge hissed open and walked in General Richardson accompanied by Shanna Vance, the Emperor's Hand.

At their approach the Admiral waved toward the displays.

"If you want to see what the enemy looks like feel free to view what happened to Taskforce Two just minutes ago. I have a battle to direct."

"Most of the surviving ships in Taskforce Two are jumping. " Reported Communications. "They should arrive in seven minutes. "

"Did they recover any fighters?"

"The Droid fighter carriers were hit along with the Destroyers. All of the droid Augmented squadrons are remaining behind to buy time."

"What's the status on these interdiction fields?"

The Captain spoke up. "They appear to be generated by oddly shaped dedicated projectors. No engines detected. They must have been towed into place."

"Put up an image of one."

The image of a dark lump shaped not unlike a human heart appeared. A flight of Tie craft flew towards it on a strafing run, making sure to stay at range. Most of the laser bolts were swallowed by tiny black holes but some made it through to scorch the surface.

Jerej looked over the Admiral's shoulder frowning at what he saw. "Some type of interdiction mine. Reminds me of the Empion Mine project those years ago."

Two Vindicator class cruisers moved in on the same mine and fired salvos into it, overwhelming it's defences with sheer number of shots.

"Have the interdictor cruisers bring up their gravity well projectors. If we destroy all of the mines we need something to drag the Taskforce Two survivors from hyperspace. When the last survivors have arrived deactivate the wells."

Dreks looked to the side and noticed that the Emperor's Hand had finished reviewing the recordings from the battle and now seemed to be in some kind of trance. General Richardson, being the joker that we was, passed a hand in front of her face to see what response he would get. He wisely stopped after just a few seconds when he noticed his superior's attention.

The woman came out of her trance like state, frowned in Jerej's direction, then turned to face the Admiral.

"I have news Admiral. The Chiss have encountered this species before but not in anything approaching these numbers." She looked to the forward tactical displays. "Their tactics also appear to have increased in complexity."

Burgan had his attention riveted on the woman now. "How do we beat them?" He asked, his most intense stare directed at her.

Vance hesitated a moment then drew herself more upright. "Information on that was less clear. Varying laser power and intensity was one way of helping to defeat their defences. Their... propulsion affects their defence as well as the shield defeating effects we have seen. It was not very clear. The information from the Chiss has not been reviewed in some time. It could be hours before I can get you more information if there is any."

"It's better than nothing." Replied Burgan turning away.

"We'll have to figure out the rest on our own then. Propulsion and defence affect each other... a gravitic drive of some sort perhaps?"

"It's a nice theory but our data feeds from Taskforce Two arn't the best. By the time we figure it out ourselves we may be dead."

"We don't have any choice but to. All ships are to vary their weapon power and firing rates. Take down those Gravity Mines. If the enemy fleet follows the Group Two survivors then we'll try to deploy our larger ships behind a screen of light cruisers. That might buy us enough time to see what works."

The General stepped away to issue orders to the proper ship Commanders. Meanwhile ahead, light cruisers, frigates and corvettes began to revert from hyperspace on the other side of the gravity mines. Their Turbolasers began pouring fire into the Mines, forcing them to split defensive cover between Group One's advance force and the Group Two survivors. Within a minute the last surviving ships had arrived and the Mines had been destroyed.

The smaller ships quickly made their way to the large formation and took up positions fed to them by the command ship. The advance guard also pulled back, waiting for the enemy fleet that had to be coming their way.

"Sensors let me know when you get anything." Requested the Admiral.

"Yes sir."

Several tense minutes followed in which little happened. Starfighter squadrons launched and took up positions around or near the Cruisers and Destroyers. The Gunboat and Skipray blastboat units were sent out to the fringes of the fleet to help prevent any attempts at flanking. Weapons and shields went through additional tests and the surviving ships of Taskforce Two tried to effect temporary repairs.

"Contact! Hyperspace reversion detected aft. A four ship unit, not part of our group."

"What kind of ships do we have sensors?"

"IFF shows them as the Destroyer Ardent, a Vindicator out of Yaga Minor and... two Carrack Cruisers from the Robaillo sector sir!"

028


	29. Chapter 29

-1

+++ 

"Hail them." Directed Burgan. "I'll take it at my station."

"They've already begun transmitting on all frequencies, audio only."

"Enemy ships appearing out of hyperspace dead ahead." Called sensors. "Distance five hundred thousand kilometres."

"Put up Dorja's transmission, then get me a direct channel."

"Aye sir."

"This is Admiral Dorja to all Imperial ships. It is imperative that you extend inertial compensator fields to encompass your shields. It will prevent enemy weapons from striping them away."

"Direct all ships to do as he says. Quickly!"

Far ahead a few dozen asteroid ships had already reverted from hyperspace and now larger ships were starting to arrive.

The indicator light for the holo panel lit up showing he had a call waiting. Hitting the button, Admiral Dorja's face appeared above the holo plate.

Burgan grinned then bowed slightly. "Admiral Dorja. We had all thought you had been killed at Bastion when we found the remains of your carriers and Skiprays."

"High Admiral Burgan, a pleasure as usual. We have valuable combat data. All ships need to extend their inertial compensator fields to include their shields as I previously stated."

"This is just the sort of information we needed Dorja. One of our taskforces was just massacred when they lost shields. Eighteen Destroyers."

The older Admiral nodded gravely at the casualty figures as Burgan continued.

"Do you know about how well we should fare with these modifications?"

The old man snapped out of his reprieve. "The heavier ships should be able to hold their own as long as the shields don't fail. Smaller ships like Frigates don't have the defences to hold up long. The larger enemy ships from the Cruisers on up might be able to take down a Nebulon in two hits."

The High Admiral started calculating numbers in his head. With those damage levels he could expect to lose perhaps all of the survivors of taskforce two in screening actions. "Very good. Admiral, have your ships take up position near my Command ship. I would like your group to screen the bridge platform should we lose shields."

"Understood."

"Depending on what happens next I may want you to come aboard, so have a shuttle ready."

After the holo feed blinked out he looked over to his long time friend.

"We may get through this yet."

Jerej nodded and turned to the Emperor's Hand.

"What do you think Ms.Vance?"

The woman seemed to looking everywhere at once, not paying any mind to the intrusive General. Then she stopped and closed her eyes. "Quiet for a moment please General."

Shanna concentrated on the life forces of those around her. The Force allowed her to feel the crew of the Command ship and as she looked farther out, the lives of the entire fleet. Farthest out were the newly arrived ships belonging to Admiral Dorja. Directing her attentions forward she looked for the enemy fleet. Out in the space ahead she could find nothing.

"Enemy Command ship has reverted and the fleet is now inbound."

"Spread us out into a wall formation. Keep the support ships close in to the Destroyers."

+++ 

Fighters launched from Ardent and Sevanar as they closed with the Imperial fleet. By the looks of things they would be able to reach their assigned position before the enemy fleet could engage them.

"Colonel Fel keep your fighters back protecting us and the command ship once we're on station."

"Acknowledged flight control."

Ahead, the Imperial taskforce formed up into a massive wall facing the oncoming fleet. Destroyers spread out enough for the smaller ships to form up around them while the Carriers pulled back to what they hoped were safe distances. The light cruisers were just reaching positions when the aliens began firing.

Long orange streamers and huge globs of molten material flashed out, crossing the distance in a handful of seconds. The fire impacted shields of Imperial warships, lighting up the defensive fields of several dozen ships. The Star Destroyers waited until all of their escorts were in position before unleashing a bright green firestorm of return fire.

Space between the two fleets seemed to become one single multi-colour mass more than anything. Fighters on both sides held back, unwilling or unable to enter the fierce exchange to hunt enemy ships. All the while Ardent closed with the command ship.

Five minutes later as Dorja's group was coming to an all stop, the fighters were still holding back. Every so often the shields would be overwhelmed on one of the smaller ships and an explosion would blossom from somewhere in the formation.

The Flight controller came on over the com. "Colonel Fel you have new orders. You and One Flight are to personally escort the Admiral's shuttle to the command ship and accompany the Admiral to the bridge."

Jag looked up through the slits in the topside hatch of his fighter and saw a Sentinel class landing craft drop from Ardent's main bay.

"Understood. One Flight, on me. Form up on the Sentinel."

Two Gauntlets and two Interceptors looped around to the transport shuttle and took up positions surrounding it.

Their approach to the command ship was not especially fast but not anywhere as slow as most ship to ship transfers. A hole opened in the shields as they neared, and then entered, a docking bay towards the aft sections of the ship. This bay was intended for officers to make their way to the bridge faster. The bay itself was empty save for a crimson painted Tie craft that looked like an Interceptor with additional small radiator arrays and lasers.

The Sentinel set down in the center of the bay with the four fighters landing evenly spaced around it. Jag popped the hatch on his fighter and slid down to a wing pylon before jumping down. The landing ramp lowered and the Admiral came down it followed by a bodyguard.

A half squad of Stormtroopers already waiting in the bay escorted them to the nearest priority Turbolift.

029


	30. Chapter 30

Admiral Dorja and Colonel Fel stepped out onto the spacious bridge of High Admiral Burgan's flagship. The rounded forward viewport was easily twice the width of those on other Destroyers and was heavily reinforced, with a second layer of Transparisteel viewports. The crew pit area was divided into four areas each about the same size a regular ships' crew pit. The aft area with Command chairs and security checkpoints had been widened as well, easily making room for additional Stormtroopers or guests of importance. Slightly off to the left of center was the Admiral's command chair which had holo projectors arrayed around it.

Jag stayed beside and slightly behind Dorja as they approached the Command chair. The Admiral, who may only have been in his early forties, sat surrounded by several aids and officers, an Imperial Army General and a woman wearing a hooded cloak. Jag assumed she was a member of Imperial intelligence or something similar. Just as Dorja and Jag were coming to a stop, Burgan spun his chair to face them.

"Welcome aboard and congratulations on staying alive. I'm assuming from those two Carrack cruisers you brought along with you that the Robaillo Sector fleet is gone?"

"Yes sir." Answered Dorja. "The Right to Rule escaped with a civilian convoy but we were forced to sacrifice her to punch past a Cruiser Analog near Gravlex Med."

"Unfortunate, but that's the least of our worries. I assume you have all of the data you collected compiled?"

"Yes sir." Dorja pulled out a datapack. The decking vibrated from shield impacts as he handed it to Burgan sending the older man's gaze to the forward viewports. The bow of the ship may have been more than five kilometres away but if the shields came down it would only take seconds for any fighters to get through.

Burgan plugged the datapack into a slot on his command chair and information began to filter onto some of the screens surrounding him. The man was apparently good at speed reading because he had gotten through the meat of the data in seconds.

"The Yuuz... han... Yuuzhan Vong. These aliens. You've seen some of them outside of their ships and vehicles?"

"No Admiral. All of our encounters were ship to ship while we were attempting to retreat. The one time we won an engagement the entire ship was destroyed leaving only hull fragments. We believe the escaping plasma burned away any bodies."

"Anything specifically that seemed to work better for you in engagements?"

"In ship engagements, just using more fire than they could handle on a single target was about it. Ramming similar or greater tonnage ships into theirs also seemed to work."

A smirk tugged at the corner of Burgan's lips. "I'll take that under advisement. Starfighter tactics?"

Dorja gestured to Jag. "Colonel Fel here is my flight group Commander. His people have been getting better at taking down their fighters."

"Colonel Fel? It appears your family is becoming quite the celebrity group lately. Well let's hear some fighter tactics." Burgan flipped a switch on his command chair before Jag started.

"For starfighter tactics when engaging these... Vong, we found that the best way to take them down was to concentrate the fire of a group on single targets to overload their defences. Since the enemy fighters would retaliate we fast started using shielded vehicles like blastboats to take the brunt of return fire while the unshielded fighters could take cover behind them if they couldn't dodge the fire themselves.

Groups consisting of two or three interceptors around shielded fighters like Gauntlets seemed to work quite well as they don't slow down the other Tie's."

Jag paused as another impact against the forward shields shook the ship. 

"Heavy Flight groups appeared to do reasonably well, especially if undamaged vehicles could cover for others that had been hit while shields recovered. These plasma weapons are very dangerous. They can knock out an unshielded Tie with one hit if they get lucky. Any kind of graze will cause heavy damage. Missiles seemed to have little use against fighters."

The Admiral flicked a switch as Jag ended then picked up his communicator. "This is High Admiral Burgan to all flight Commanders. You are instructed to do what you can to follow the guidelines put down in the transmission you just heard. You're getting a great deal more warning about what you're against than others have. Do your jobs to the best of your abilities and we'll make it through this. May the Emperor guide your hands today. Burgan out."

The Admiral put his comlink away then turned to Jag. "That was very well done Colonel. Now get to your fighter and get out there. Admiral Dorja will be aboard for the rest of the battle unless something goes wrong."

Jag saluted, turned on his heel and fast marched to the nearest Turbolift.

"Let's get to winning this." He heard the High Admiral say before the door closed behind him.

030


	31. Chapter 31

+++ 

By the time Jag reached the landing bay they had entered from and launched with the rest of his flight, the battle had changed. The Vong fleet had closed with the Imperial formation almost to point blank range. The two fleets could no longer fire wildly into each other and were forced to divert fire to closer, individual targets. Then the fighters which had been held in reserve began their attack.

The shard fighters swept into the Imperial formation like a giant wave. Some whole squadrons of tie craft were swept away before they could react and roughly one quarter of the Corvettes were soon out of action. A second less devastating wave of blastboat analogs followed. Though they were able to compound damage done by the fighters first strafing runs everyone was prepared enough by the fighters to expect a second wave.

One squadron and two blastboats that had broken through the main fight headed for the Ardent. The fighters already surrounding the Destroyer formed up, ready for a head to head.

"One Flight on me." Called Jag. "We're going to come up right behind that small incoming force and hit them as the rest of Ardent's squadron does."

The Avengers and Gunboats launched missiles and torpedoes at the on coming force then opened up with lasers. The shards dropped back enough for the blastboats to come forward and the larger ship's superior defences gulped down the incoming missiles without any trouble. Then the formation changed to better intercept the laser fire even as the shards began firing plasma.

Jag's flight were just able to reach weapons range as they came up behind the attacking group. Sixteen laser cannon fired a continuous burst of single fire shots into the backsides of the enemies. One blastboat, distracted by the fire, put all defence aft for a second and was hit in the bow by an Avenger's quad burst. The interiors of the ship superheated and geysered out of the hole in the front of the ship.

Even as the blastboat and a few of the fighters were destroyed the formation held together with remarkable precision. The return fire was as devastating as usual. One Gunboat exploded as their shields failed and two of the older Tie craft detonated sending solar arrays whirling out in different directions. The other advanced ties scattered and looped off in different directions.

The remaining Gunboats barely survived the pass as they were hammered by more combined fire. As the two assault craft broke in either direction Jag saw that Ardent's heavy Turbolaser Batteries were straight ahead.

"BREAK! One Flight Break!"

Even as he was getting out the words and matching his own actions to them the Turbolasers fired. Bolts the size of starfighters flashed through the space they had just occupied and three shards were washed away by the beams. The remaining ships in the formation looped back, took fire from one of the Carrack cruisers for a moment, then headed back to the main fight. A flight of Gauntlets and Interceptors took pot-shots at them then returned to a position near the Sevanar.

Jag took a breather then keyed the com for the Ardent. "This is Fel, permission to detach flight elements from Ardent's defence for a quick foray into the main engagement."

Commander Wintle came on over the com instead of the Flight controller. "That's a negative Colonel. We're under specific orders to hold this relative position above the Command ship. You may not engage unless you, our group, or the Command ship's bridge tower are being threatened. Sorry."

Jag glanced at his sensors as another enemy unit broke through the main fight and headed for them. This one with what looked to be a small corvette analog hanging near the center of their flight.

"Don't be sorry sir. I think we'll have plenty to do here after all."

031


	32. Chapter 32

+++ 

Dorja looked over the High Admiral's shoulder at the large holographic representation of the battle. They had an advantage in numbers but support ships were being lost at a rate of more than three to one.

"They're able to coordinate their forces too fast and too easily. I've never seen anything like it."

"Some sort of combined data network between the ships in their fleet perhaps?" General Richardson suggested.

Burgan waved the suggestion away. "Not likely. We'd have detected a huge bandwidth of com traffic. Even if they were to transmit in visible light or some other frequency like gamma rays we would have picked it up by now."

Dorja looked to the General then the Admiral. "Telepathic then?"

"It's not too far fetched." Agreed Jerej.

"Indeed." Answered Burgan and spun his chair to face Shanna Vance. "Are we facing anything telepathic that you could tell us?"

The woman looked to the viewports again, at the enemy fleet that was so close someone could reach out and touch it. She squinted at the ships and creases of concentration began to show themselves on her face.

Then she stopped and took several deep breaths.

"Nothing. There's nothing out there."

"Well it was worth a try. Now if-"

"Wait." The woman interrupted. "There is nothing out there. No life, no substance, nothing. It's like those ships shouldn't even exist but when I open my eyes they're still there."

"R-right." Responded the Admiral uncertainly. "I don't think that'll have a huge effect on how our fleet fights them." Without another word he turned back to the battle.

A volley of cruise missiles took down the starboard shields of one of the Star Destroyers and hulled it in several places. The crews were well trained and turned the ship broadside to the enemy presenting the least damaged shields while smaller support ships prevented fighters from taking advantage of the loss of shields on that side. Even so the diagnostics display for that ship started registering more and more hull and systems damage.

"Blast." Muttered Burgan. "Have a Vic Star and a Vindicator move in and support that Duce. I don't want to lose it if possible."

The bridge shook heavily and the light dimmed as systems tried to draw extra power from the grid. The indicator for the forward shields dropped by five percent.

"Report. What just hit us?"

"Nothing hit us that caused that sir." Said the sensor operator. "I think that the enemy command ship just tried to strip our shields. Inertial compensators in some of the forward sections nearly failed under the strain."

"Get backups in place. I don't want my command crew dead if they try that again."

"Aye sir."

A series of plasma hits blossomed against the forward shields in sequence. Shield power dropped more.

"As tough as these ship are, they can't take hits like that all day." Said Jerej.

"And [ithey[/i won't let it last all day." Added Dorja. "Eventually they're going to throw everything they have at this ship to break your line."

As if to prove his point a full wing of enemy fighters broke off from battling Tie fighters and in unison fired a concentrated barrage at the bow of his ship. As quickly as it had begun the Vong fighters returned to the Tie craft as if nothing had happened.

"I don't know how they're doing that but these guys are slicker than a Hutt. Helm! Find us some room and put us broadside to the enemy command ship. All guns pick a spot and drill it. Missile batteries launch a combined barrage at their command ship."

Concentrated cruise missile fire coming from the enemy carriers broke down the shields of an older Destroyer and ripped a series of hull breaches in it's topside from bow to bridge.

"Sir I'm detecting secondary explosions aboard Steadfast. They're reporting some kind of failure in-"

The officer was cut off as large explosions ripped the Destroyer Steadfast apart from the inside. It finished with a much larger explosion as the main reactors detonated, sending out a shockwave that crippled any support ships that had been nearby. The bridge shook as the topside shields absorbed most of the explosion's damage. Red emergency lighting came on as damage alarms wailed from several places on the bridge.

"Helm continue our maneuver!"

"Aye sir!"

Through the forward viewports clouds of Shards could be seen raining fire down on the forward and topside shields. Turbolasers without a clear shot at enemy capital ships tried their best to swat the pests.

As the Command ship turned Ardent and it's escorts stayed more or less in the same place bringing the areas infested with enemies closer to the ship and it's fighters. Several other tie squadrons also joined in the defence of the Command ship and there was soon a massive fighter engagement raging between the two Destroyers. As soon as the SSD ceased her turn all of the portside heavy weapons opened fire. Concentrating first on a Frigate analog that had been harassing them and then on the large enemy command cruiser.

"Sir, our Interdictor Cruisers are taking fire from cruise missiles."

Dorja leaned in towards the Admiral. "They only have a limited number of missiles aboard. They may be hitting them now should they need to withdraw later."

"No that's not it. They didn't start hitting the Interdictors until we started directing more fire on their command ship."

Jerej tapped a display panel. "The Carrier analogs are starting to pull back. A withdrawal?"

Burgan looked over the numbers of remaining ships and starfighters. "If they choose to retreat we'll have to let them. We don't have the strength to break their formation. If they stay it get's messy for everyone. We need to regroup, or we'll be stuck in stalemate. Pull the Interdictors back and have them withdraw. We can't have them thinking they're stuck here and fight harder."

"We outnumber them." Mentioned Jerej.

"We outnumbered them from the start. We need to pull back and consolidate our forces. We also need time to fully analyse the tactics and weapons of this enemy."

He turned to the ship's captain.

"Prepare to pull the fleet back, but do it slowly."

Dorja simmered with anger but outwardly remained calm. "They are going to escape. We haven't done them any real damage. What we have done to their cruiser analogs is just superficial." Their chance to inflict a serious and immediate defeat to this new enemy was slipping away.

"We'll pull back to Garqi." Announced the High Admiral. "If they have any presence on the ground there, we'll land troops. It'll give our ground forces experience with these invaders. If not we can set it up as a temporary fleet base."

The Vong Fleet intensified their fire on the command ship for several seconds attempting once again to break the Imperial line, but could not ignore the other Destroyers for long. Knowing this all auxiliary power and feeds to the Superior's starboard weapons were transferred to the shields. Tie craft rushing to the defence of their fleet's Admiral soon became too numerous for the Shards and blastboat analogs to counter. A Vindicator class cruiser protecting a pair of Lancer II Frigates moved into position and began wreaking havoc on the enemy formations.

Then the fighters and enemy cruisers were flocking away back to a safe place to enter hyperspace. The withdrawal was as orderly as the attack had been. Damaged fighters and vehicles were protected by near perfect formations of escorts as they pulled back. Any Imperial ships or fighters that attempted to pursue were quickly taken down. Then, within a handful of minutes they were gone.

"Detail ships to recovery operations. Communications, I want the small group we sent in to Yaga Minor to get out of there now if they're still alive. They're to link up with us at Garqi. And have the Hypercom relay ships move to establish communications between Garqi and Agamar. The main fleet will jump out in... half of an hour. Any ships unable to jump will remain behind with the recovery group."

Officers moved to carry out their orders and the bridge was filled with the sound of movement and hushed conversation.

Burgan spun his command chair to face away from the viewports. "Quite the new friends we've made. I'm guessing your first encounter wasn't quite so successful?"

"No sir." Frowned Dorja. Though he had to admit, it was a step in the right direction.

"Normally I would have risked the fleet to take down theirs but there's a problem with this being the only sizeable force within range for a couple of weeks."

"I understand, completely." Replied the older man.

"I can still have more ships brought in sooner than that but not in enough numbers to replace a full battle group. Now... General Richardson, prepare your troops."

"With pleasure sir."

032


	33. Chapter 33

+++ 

On the other side of the galaxy, the Star Destroyers Blacken and Coercion dropped out of hyperspace. A fraction of a second later two Nebulon-B escort Frigates Trophy and Copsic reverted. Dead ahead was the capital of the Kathol sector, Kal'Shebbol.

The system's traffic control picked up the ships just before they hailed the Golan Platform in orbit.

"This is Commander Adali Inkari of the Destroyer Blacken to local traffic control please respond."

A stern faced flag officer appeared on the holo projector. "Destroyer Blacken, you were reported missing two years ago in the Rift, along with another ship." He said it more as an accusation than a question.

"Yes sir. We were caught by a gravity pulse mine used by some fleeing Rebels. To make a long story short, we were ambushed and ended up traveling more than a year at sublight before we found our way out of the Rift."

The traffic control officer frowned as he looked off screen. "From our readings it looks like you've had lots of repair work done."

"We took control of a large Pirate base and used their station to expedite repairs. Called themselves the Skandrei Bandits or something? They were screaming something about that over the com when they attacked us."

"The Skandrei Bandits?! You found their base?"

"Yes sir. Was stocked just well enough to replace any weapons and systems we lost. We were forced to execute half of them, while the rest are being looked after by our Stormtroopers."

"What happened to your group's Command ship? There was a Super Star Destroyer with you if I remember." Even if it was a small one. The officer thought to himself.

"I'd... rather wait until a full report is filed sir. We lost a lot of good people."

"I understand. Very well then, one of my officers will send you an approach path that will keep you out of the worst of the scheduled system traffic. Good day."

The Officer in charge of the Golan platform and system traffic control turned to his support officers.

"Give them a slow approach path to give our sensors more time to look at them. I want to know exactly were those ships have been. Send a potential scramble warning to the ground based fighter wings just in case. Someone look up Commander Adali Inkari on our local database. If he came through here on that ship we'll have records from the crew manifest."

Within minutes an officer retuned with data on the previously missing ships and the man now in command.

"Lt. Commander Adali Inkari, Second Officer aboard the Destroyer Blacken as of two years ago. He was to be promoted to First Officer at the end of the tour. Our sensors show that both ships have taken damage to the bridge. Normally either the First or Second Officer is assigned to the auxiliary bridge in a battle situation."

"Not inconceivable for both senior officers to be killed when the bridge is lost. What kind of damage would you say their bridge tower sustained?"

"Hard to say, either a Turbolaser broadside or a missile barrage."

"Determine if the rest of the damage is consistent with his story. Have the orbital maintenance berth readied to receive the ships. We may need to disembark the crews until they can be evaluated. They've been in deep space a long time."

"Aye sir."

+++ 

Other than freighter traffic it was many hours before any ships entered the system.

A series of blips on sensors stirred the operator to attention. "Ships detected entering the system." Called out the bored traffic control officer. "Heavy tonnage ships..." The man's eyes widened as he rechecked the sensors.

"Rebel IFF Transponders detected!"

Combat alarms began to blare and the Station Commander was quickly out of his office.

"What do we have?"

"Transports converted into carriers, as well as Dreadnaughts and Assault Frigates."

"Sir, Blacken and Coercion are just reaching our outer defences. They're now coming about and launching fighters."

The com crackled to life as the Star Destroyer Blacken hailed the station. "Commander Inkari to Kal'Shebbol command, requesting instructions."

"This is Kal'Shebbol command. Captain you are to hold your current position and await reinforcement."

"Understood. We must have just missed this group when we hit that Pirate shipyard. They may have followed us back."

"Just hold position Commander." The Flag officer turned to the others on the Golan platform's bridge.

"Have our Destroyers move into position to support Blacken and Coercion. Communications, bring our light ship group into the system to strike the Rebels from the rear and cut off their escape. Launch all fighters and get the ground side forces into orbit as soon as possible."

Personnel scrambled to carry out their orders. In high geosynchronous obit above the planet the two Star Destroyers tasked with aiding planetary defence came about and headed for the newer arrivals.

+++ 

Iblis stood on the bridge of the Peregrine as it lumbered toward the Destroyer group forming in high orbit above the target world. The bi-monthly heavy convoy had already departed for the core regions as planned, taking four Star Destroyers and an Escort Carrier along with it.

"Someone tell Page he owes me fifty credits. We arn't hopelessly outmatched."

The Rebel force deployed fighters and accelerated as he continued to watch the holographic projection of the system. A System Patrol craft and other light military ships headed for the Golan platform in orbit knowing they wouldn't last long in a fight with Heavy cruisers.

The Transports that pirates had long ago converted into light carriers hung back behind the Rebel cruisers. They did however stay close enough so that they didn't fully leave the protection of the warships and fighters. Up ahead the Enemy Destroyers finished forming their defence line.

The General turned to Tycho. "Colonel, tell our fighters they are clear to engage, and good hunting."

The Alderanian nodded and picked up his comlink, relaying the orders.

033


	34. Chapter 34

+++ 

"We have a line of four Destroyers formed up sir. Fighter screens are in position. Golan platform One reports full readiness."

"Good. Flight control, once the fighters from the planet-side bases start arriving, send our ties in to help those protecting the Destroyers."

"Yes sir."

The sensors officer spoke up again. "Enemy fighter wave incoming towards the Destroyers. They're leaving their cruisers to catch up."

"Good. Our ships can put down suppression fire while our Tie's pick off their fighters."

All four Star Destroyers tuned their Turbolasers toward the oncoming Rebel single ships.

"Rebel fighter wave will enter Turbolaser range in three... two..."

The Turbolasers on Blacken and Coercion began to turn and track in opposite directions.

"One... Fire!"

The two Defence destroyers launched their first volley as planned at the oncoming Rebels. The other two Destroyers fired on the defending ships that had come up to join their line. At the same time the Tie craft they had launched opened fire on the Imperials in the fighter screen. Nearly two dozen ties winked out of existence in a second. Tie Clutch type uglies launched from the traitor Star Destroyers and those tie craft already in space activated low powered shields.

Blacken and Coercion were able to get off three full Turbolaser volleys before the defending ships returned fire. When the Imperial fighters turned to attack the apparent traitors they were hit from behind by the Rebel fighter wave. A full squadron of Tie Clutch craft struck out at each of the two now wounded Destroyers, peppering them with laser and Ion cannon shots.

The Rebel strike fighters came into range followed closely behind by the Assault Frigates, all firing Ion Cannon. When the Imperial Commanders tried to roll their ships to bring fresh shields to bear, the fighters hit the unshielded sections. The Peregrine closed with one Destroyer unleashing it's heavy Ion cannon on the larger ship. Before long both defending ships were adrift and the Rebels were moving on to the Golan platform. A force of Tie Interceptors fleeing before them.

The Rebel flagship hailed the Golan platform.

"This is General Garm Bel Iblis to the forces of Kal'Shebbol. Surrender immediately and save your planet from orbital bombardment."

Fighter squadrons were still climbing out of the atmosphere and into orbit, headed for the Golan Two and the other light ships forming up around it. Blacken and Coercion came about slowly, allowing their shields to recover while the smaller Rebel ships formed up around them.

The faster Rebel starfighters began to make quick strikes against the remaining Imperial defence force, stirring up their formations. No response was forthcoming from the station so the Star Destroyers began a slow approach. While an upgraded Golan Three could hope to hold off a pair of Destroyers for some time, this was a old First Generation Golan Two.

The large guns aboard the Destroyers were nearly in range of the platform when a sector response fleet came out of hyperspace. A Victory Destroyer flanked by two Strike Cruisers and three Corellian Corvettes emerged at the edge of the planet's gravity well. Had the Rebel converted Carriers stayed farther behind, the new arrivels would have been able to easily overwhelm them. As it was, their appearance was too late to change the course of the battle, only lengthen it.

Iblis looked over the ship numbers carefully anyway. "Colonel, direct Blacken and Coercion to change course for the new enemy fleet element. Send two of our Dreadnaughts along with them. Peregrine and the Assault Frigates will carry on toward the station. And by the Force, get those Carrier transports to stay out of the way."

"Yes sir General. By the way, our two Nebulon-B Frigates are skimming the upper atmosphere and engaging fighters coming up from the surface."

"Fine keep them there. Have the regular starfighters, shielded Tie's, X-wings and the four B-wing's go with our Destroyers. That should leave us... the A-wings, Tie Clutches and the full Y-wing squadron for attacking the station."

"This could be a close match General. A Carrack Cruiser and two Corellian Gunships have taken up positions alongside the station. The system Patrol craft is also hanging nearby."

Iblis frowned at Tycho's report. "We'll just have to proceed slowly. The Assault Frigates can crack that station without much trouble, even faster with the Y-wings helping. We'll just have to take on the light ships ourselves and hope the Frigates finish up quickly."

The Rebel ships now heading for the space station formed up again, watching as the larger ships headed away. The Two Destroyers had enough power to beat the Imperial group but the Strike Cruisers had been outfitted with Carrier modules giving the group eight fighter squadrons.

"Weapons range with the station in twenty seconds." Called out a random officer.

An idea popped into the General's head. Or more accurately something he'd forgotten. "Send a message to Blacken." Instructed Iblis. "Tell them to begin continuously transmitting surrender protocols to all enemy ships once they engage."

"Yes sir."

Iblis shook his head. He was getting too old for this, too old without the proper medical support. He straightened his shoulders. If the offensive started to pay off the Rebels might be able to get access to proper medical equipment.

The three capital ships cruised in, firing the moment they reached range, the two Frigates protecting Peregrine most of the way in. The A-wings continued their slashing high speed attacks against the massed fighter forces, really doing little damage but causing confusion. Then the Imperial fighters could hold back no longer and charged the group attempting to swarm them.

Peregrine dropped relative down from the Assault Frigates and opened up on the Carrack and the Gunships which were following close behind the Tie fighter attack. A-wings and Clutch uglies dove into the starfighter fray which soon became so confused that few pilots had time to line up a shot. The Y-wing formation which had held back, dove into the gap between the Frigates vacated by the Dreadnaught.

The Assault Frigate bringing up the left side of the now two ship formation, directed Ion cannon fire at the Carrack Cruiser and Gunships as they passed but did little serious damage. They did however serve as distraction enough to keep the Gunships from noticing the Y-wings. As soon as the Corellian built ships were past, the Bombers streaked in at the station in a flying wedge. Their concentrated Torpedo spread lit up the Golan's shields like a stellar nursery.

The Station's Turbolasers couldn't penetrate the shields of the Rebel ships and the Y-wings had just barely enough speed to dodge. Soon Laser and Ion Cannon bolts shook the station's hull. Blue lightning skittered across the exterior and through internal systems causing them to short out or overload. Before long most of the station's weapons had ceased firing and several sections were burning air off into space.

By the time one Frigate came about and headed back into the battle, Peregrine was being hammered. The three Imperial ships and some Ties were giving everything they could to take down one of the Rebel ships. They were nearing success. Holes started to open in the old ship's shields and Cannon fire cored through several topside decks amidships. A Gunship hammered away at the engines causing a secondary explosion.

Peregrine's heavy Ion cannon fired a last desperate volley into the Carrack's engine bank bringing down the smaller ship's shields. The Assault Frigate fired at maximum range hitting the now unprotected light cruiser, it's engines exploding in a spectacular fireball. Some of the Y-wings were soon ducking through the firefight and launched their last missiles into a Gunship dropping it's shields. A flight of Clutch fighters targeted it's weapons, losing two of their number but fast disabling it.

The remaining Gunship, seeing it was now far overmatched transmitted it's surrender.

Off on the far side of the station four Y-wings and the other Frigate chased down the fleeing System Patrol craft. The heavier ship shook up the SPC with it's heavy weapons enough for the Bombers to take out the engines, leaving it drifting.

+++ 

The General picked himself up off the floor of the Command center as he heard the distinctive sound of hand operated fire extinguishers. The tactical holo display still functioned though it had a bad flicker. Everything near the station read green or yellow, no enemy contacts. Tycho was directing damage control efforts from one of the control panels not damaged in one way or another. A support beam had collapsed toward the front of the chamber and the wall behind it was warm.

"Tycho, Report."

"All enemy space forces are either destroyed, disabled or have surrendered."

Iblis wiped as his forehead and was grateful that no blood came away when he did so.

"The planet?"

"The planetary Governor is willing to negotiate terms for surrender. Apparently he heard your broadcast about Planetary Bombardment."

"My ship is in a bit of a mess. Not the sort of thing I want a Governor to see. It could likely be taken as a sign of weakness."

"I already have a shuttle waiting to ferry you over to Blacken Sir."

034


	35. Chapter 35

-1

+++ 

"We have The Victory Striker type experimental Destroyer 'Rough Justice' dropped out of hyperspace for it's rendezvous with the Destroyer Tribune. They had just completed their first circuit of the Kathol Sector, rumoured to be the place where a Rebel fleet and Imperial task force had disappeared a mere two years ago. The sector was vast but far from empty. When they had strayed off of their planned route just slightly, the ship had stumbled upon pockets of inhabited systems and areas not recorded in Imperial survey logs.

Their arrival had scared off armed transports ship before they could hail them on more than one occasion. This time though it wasn't an armed transport that greeted them. The Imperial Destroyer Tribune floated, dead in orbit, above the planet Brolsam. Hovering near it like a pair of scavengers were two Mon Cal Star Cruisers. The curved ships oriented on the incoming Vic in seconds, their Turbolasers soon getting firing solutions. A cloud of starfighters started to boil up from behind the two ships and overtake them.

"Helm, get us out of here." Ordered Noris Sloan, the ship's Captain. "Set course for the Capital, there should be two Destroyers there plus their reaction force."

In a matter of minutes the ship came about and was safe in hyperspace again. There was no way to tell for the moment if the two Cruisers and their fighter escort had followed them. Once a few minutes had passed and things calmed down a bit, Sloan set about the task at hand.

"Sensors, I want a full report on the numbers and types of Rebel ships that were there."

If they knew what the Rebels had brought with them then the Imperial fleet could tailor it's force to deal with this incursion. Tribune would also need to be towed back to a repair yard.

"Both Mon Cal cruisers were broadcasting their IFF transponders in the clear. Mon Remonda and Mon Karren both of the MC-80b type. There were several smaller ships clustered around Tribune, mostly converted transports. There were eight squadrons of fighters deployed, X-wings, A-wings, Y-wing mark Two's and Uglies. Lots of Uglies."

"Damn Rebels. Were there any Tie Fighters deployed? They tend to use a lot of older model Ties outfitted with shields."

"There were a handful of Tie Clutch craft sir, no other ties."

"They must be keeping them for defence of whatever planet they've been hiding near. Once we reach the Capital we'll just need to insist that they take up a search of the surrounding systems after defeating these Rebels."

+++ 

Rough Justice arrived at the sector capital, Kal'Shebbol, to find the already meager Imperial Defence forces in ruin. The planet's permanent Destroyer guard of two Imperial class ships were as dead in space as the Tribune had been. A mixed force of ships patrolled the area centered around a pair of weathered looking ISDII's.

"Where's the light reaction force?" Asked the Captain.

"On the opposite side of the planet sir. We're still receiving some telemetry from satellites. The Vic in the group has been chewed up and both Strike cruisers appear to have had their forward sections blasted apart. It could be from missile hits."

Sloan wanted to scream out a long drawn out 'No!' but restrained himself. For the crew's sake, he reminded himself. Now they had serious problems. Two Mon Cal's and two Destroyers would be nearly a match for most of the remaining Imperial ships in the Sector. With the Rebels holding the main route out of the sector now, he would have to run to the Kathol Republic to gather forces. That was back on the other side of the sector, it could take three days or more to get there. And the Charis Fleet, which had been relocated to Episol, had no heavy ships to take on Destroyers.

"Sir, Hyperspace disturbance detected aft. It's one of the Mon Cal cruisers. Also, additional Rebel ships are heading up from low orbit. Two Assault Frigates with a fighter squadron escorting each."

Sloan continued to gaze through the viewport. In the distance, maintaining a patrol around the enemy Star Destroyers could be seen the shapes of Tie craft. That was why they hadn't used them before, they had been saving them up.

"Captain, the Rebel ships are hailing us."

"Put it on the speakers."

"VSD Rough Justice, under orders from The General we are giving you a chance to surrender. Power down your weapons and lower your shields. You have one minute to respond unless you take hostile action."

The Captain continued to consider his options. "Helm, could we make it to Episol before the Rebel ships overtake us?"

"No sir. The Mon Cal's match us in Hyperspace but we're a little slower at sublight. We'd never make it through the longer sublight transits towards the other side of the sector."

Everyone on the bridge looked to the relatively young Starship Captain. He looked to each in turn. "We are totally outmatched. Does anyone think it's worth it?"

No one said a word or looked away from their Commander's gaze. Some took off headsets so they could better hear if he said something.

"I am going to see all of you, this crew, alive and in one piece. It may be awhile but we'll get our chance to give these Rebels a fair fight."

He listened for any objections or answers then turned and nodded to the Weapons officer.

The young man from Kuat slipped on his headset and told the gunners to power down their cannon.

"Put me on the Com to the Rebels."

"Channel open sir."

"This is Captain Noris Sloan of the Rough Justice. I want to know what will happen to my crew if we surrender."

"One moment please Captain." Replied the Rebel. From the light squeal that came over the com for barely a second he knew the man on the other end was changing channels.

A strong authoritarian sounding Corellian voice came over the com waves. "This is General Iblis. You have my word that your crew will be unharmed. They will be debriefed and then taken to a detention center until we can determine who can be released. We don't torture or execute our prisoners if that's what you're worried about."

"Very well. I surrender this ship and all aboard her, and take responsibility for any who might cause trouble aboard my ship."

+++ 

Iblis sat back in a chair aboard Blacken as Tycho read off reports on the state of the forces in system. Things had gone smoothly so far, now they needed to prepare for the Imperial convoy that was due in system in a week. The civilian freighter traffic was also proving to be an issue.

"The older Victory from the response fleet is useless despite being an upgrade version. The debris from the Strike Cruisers might be enough to rebuild part of the hull."

"What about the drives on the Strike Cruisers?"

The Alderanian scrolled down and not finding what he was looking for picked up another datapad.

"Half the sublight drives are no good on them. Some of the techs think they can rebuild parts of the aft hulls into landing craft once they strip out the damaged drives."

"Sounds like we have a new source of Bantha class transports." Chuckled Iblis.

Tycho rolled his eyes and continued. "Half of the crew has been removed from the Rough Justice and the rest confined to quarters. It's on it's way back to the main base to transfer personnel and to drop off the remaining prisoners."

"Good. I don't want the crews from that ship mixing with the ones we have down on Kal'Shebbol.

"On that note Garm, crews from the Destroyers in orbit are being ferried down to the planet. We only have six thousand troops on the planet right now and one third of those are watching over prisoners. Most of the civilian contract technicians were sorted out aboard ship and posted to secured quarters. We still need to keep an eye on them but it's more we don't have to put on the planet."

"Time to repair those two ships?"

"With the repair docks in orbit not so long, but we only have a skeleton crew. We can get them out of the system, even under fire if needed but we need several thousand more people before we can fight with them. Plus training time for gunnery crews."

"Fine, talk to Iella, she's supposed to have a bunch of people ready to sign on."

"Lastly the sector Moff tried to flee but was captured. The planetary Governor needs to speak with you about that."

"What else is new. I hate Bureaucrats, I can't believe I used to be one."

Tycho smiled. "Maybe that's why people voted for you."

035 

Note from the Author: I personally think of this as one of my less well written posts. I recieved a great deal of criticism from my Pro-imperial fans when it was first completed and attempts since then to re-write it have only marginally improved it.


	36. Chapter 36

+++ 

The Imperial Fleet poured out of hyperspace in a high orbit above the Planet Garqi. Scout vehicles and Tie craft dropped from the bays of carriers and Star Destroyers in still formidable numbers. Corvettes and Light cruisers surged ahead, moving into lower orbits to scan the surface of the planet.

"Enemy forces coming up from the planet. Two squadrons and three Corvette analogs." Reported sensors. "The Corvette's are angling to slip around the planet and escape."

"Deploy sufficient numbers to deal with their fighters. Can we catch those Corvettes?" Asked Burgan.

"No Admiral. They'll be away before any of our ships can transit to the other side of the planet."

"Don't bother with them then, just have a ship record their jump vector. As soon as the enemy fighters are destroyed begin a full orbital survey. I want escorted landing craft on their way to ground in thirty minutes."

The High Admiral waved over Dorja.

"Yes sir?" Inquired the older man.

"I'd like you to send four of your best pilots along to help escort the landing barges. Your people still have more experience fighting these aliens... er Vong than my people do. They may adapt faster to tactics they use for fighting on the ground or in atmosphere."

"Understood."

+++ 

Jag lead his flight in a long sweeping arc around a group of AT-AT barges as they descended through the Atmosphere. Air friction reduced the speed and maneuverability of Tie's in atmosphere considerably but there were positives as well. Any pilot that ejected had no need to worry about freezing to death or running out of air like in the depths of space.

Reports were starting to come in from the ships in orbit about odd star shaped structures in or near the planet's cities. Columns of what looked like prisoners had also been seen along with large shambling things that could have been ground vehicles or large creatures.

Because Garqi was a farming world there were no shortage of landing sites. Transports and landing craft chose to set down in a series of fields ten kilometres south of the main population center. There were raised roads, tree lines, and a few small bridges that stood between the landing zone and the city. Though any of them could be used to slow the Imperial advance, this was the most defensible landing zone this close to the city.

Two Squadrons of Assault Gunboats and one squadron of Skiprays hung in the air suspended by repulsors. They formed a loose circle surrounding the landing zone facing outward. Anything approaching the transports would have to deal with the powerful vehicle's cannon and missiles. Just inside the ring formed by the fighters landed the Sentinel class Landing craft, deploying Troops to better form a perimeter. Inside that ring the large transport barges finally were disgorging walkers.

One squadron of Defenders one of Gauntlets and six Interceptor Squadrons patrolled the surrounding airspace, careful not to get in the way of the transport craft. Once their walkers had been deployed the barges lifted off and headed back into orbit. Half of the Sentinels went back into orbit as well but the other half stayed and joined the Gunboats as low hovering fire support vehicles. A wave of Assault Shuttles came down and began securing bridges and roads that would be needed to advance to the city. Heavily armed troopers, some in power armour, began taking up stations at these strategic points.

AT-ST's and Stormtroopers began advancing outward from the landing zone, moving quickly to reach the points secured by the heavy troops. AT-AT formations began to lumber across the fields, taking their time and letting the AT-ST's do their job. Things continued without incident and the AT-ST's soon reached the first bridge. The bridges on Garqi were strongly built, intended to allow the heavy droid operated farming equipment to easily pass the large waterways scattered around. The waterways themselves were shallow enough that the walkers could have waded across but that would have slowed things down.

Then combat reports started to come in. A unit that had taken a crossroads near the main waterway separating them from the city was under attack. They were being hit with what appeared to be large bugs. The veteran Sergeant on the com was calmly describing the alien weapon creatures.

"Approximately hand size give or take. They have a razor sharp front and wings that they use to fly and steer themselves. They can be taken out with blasters but they're fast. They can cut through trooper armour when they build up enough speed."

The com cut off for a second then resumed.

"Enemy forces are located in a forested area just east of our position. Requesting fire support."

Right away a wing pair of Defenders and a squadron of Interceptors pealed of from their patrol and opened fire on the kilometre long triangle of forest. Fighters dropped down to hover over the Stormtrooper positions, firing laser cannon wherever the troopers directed their fire. Razor bugs pinged off of Starfighter armour or shields having no effect. Some small explosive bugs also joined in the mix but had no effect. AT-ST's were just starting to reach the crossroads when the hail of alien bugs stopped. The Interceptors ceased their strafing runs as more troops and vehicles approached along the road.

A heavy landing barge carrying a groundside shield generator touched down at the main landing zone. Though the defensive ring of fighters around the LZ had spread out there was still more than enough to fast counter any threat. Seeing this Jag pulled his flight farther away from the LZ, about half the distance to the city. From here they could more easily see the Crossroads and parts of the city opposite the waterway.

"Incoming Artillery fire! Evacuate the crossroads!" Yelled an Interceptor pilot on high flight.

Jag looked and sure enough a golden ball of plasma arced across the water from the city and hit the crossroad. The Scout Walkers and two Tie's hovering there were blasted away in different directions. The boxy walkers ripping apart like flimsiplast crates and the fighters exploding as their engines were melted through. White encased bodies and parts thereof flew in all directions.

More plasma blasts arced in from three other points inside the city, pounding the surrounding roads. Surviving troopers began an orderly charge into the forested area off of the road as they waited for the AT-AT's to reach them. The enemy plasma artillery fire did not stray south of the main road except for on the approaches from the bridge. Before long the AT-AT's and escorts were forced farther south to avoid the barrage. Instead they began to cut across the open field to reach the road coming up to the crossroads from the south east.

+++ 

General Richardson, who had come down to the surface on the heavy shield carrying barge, wasn't happy with what he was seeing. He had been hoping to capture the city with as little collateral damage as possible. The ships in orbit were able to locate pockets of life forms on the planet but it was hard to tell what were civilians. Killing civilians and non-combatants, even accidentally, was one way to get the big General angry. If there was a good enough reason he would allow it but he had executed soldiers before for the unneeded slaughter of civilians.

Garqi Agricultural University sprawled across one side of the city and was the source of most of the life form readings. One artillery piece was firing from the University Campus with three more scattered in the cover of the city just in from the small river. In adjacent or blocking buildings were human life signs. He cursed the alien's attempt at spiting him. The roads and open fields leading to the river would be a killing ground for any forces that tried to cross them. AT-AT's with their direct fire cannons couldn't hope to reach the enemy vehicles. XR-85 Tank droid's would have been handy now but it would take too long for some to arrive.

He picked up his com and looked up the starfighter Commanders in the air. "Colonel Fel, this is General Richardson. I want you to take a high flight over the enemy positions. I'm having the 420th wing's Squadron Two accompany you up. If you think you can hit a target do so. If you cant crack those Artillery from up top let me know, I can divert some Gunboats."

"Order Acknowledged." Responded Fel.

Richardson turned to an aid. "Get me some Tie Bombers down here with precision munitions. And bring in a Corvette or two, it'll be faster than trying to deploy a self-propelled Turbolaser."

The aid ran off to carry out the task as another began to report in. "Sir our infantry that's pulled back to the forest to avoid the artillery is under heavy attack."

"Let me see."

The holo display lit up showing the transponder locations of all ground troops and forces in that area. The Soldiers had fought their way into the trees pushing back the enemies that had occupied the area in minutes. Now the aliens appeared to have organised a counter attack and positions were crumbling.

"Enemy forces are reported to be using close combat tactics. They... I believe they're armed with some kind of vibroblade sir. Troopers report that their armour is being cut through with single hits. Enemy armour is taking two or three solid hits from standard blaster rifles."

"Can you get me visual?"

The aid hit a few buttons and a side display switched to showing the image from a Stormtrooper's small mission recorder holocam. They were being steadily pushed back by a swarm of short creatures armed with small curving weapons. Their numbers alone were causing problems. Behind and sometimes among them were tall thin looking humanoids armed with long coiling whip like weapons.

"Emperor's black bones."

The Trooper, using his carbine in one hand and a sidearm in another, was firing as fast as he could to keep aliens back. Then when a hole opened in the line one of the tall ones from the back rushed forward, swinging its weapon around like a sling thrower. It sidestepped a blaster bolt, took another to its chitinous looking armour then swung its weapon across decapitating the trooper.

At least Richardson assumed the man had been decapitated, since the camera view spun showing alternating ground and sky before landing next to a headless body.

"Pull them back. Pull them back to the south east! Have them meet up with the Walkers coming up that road. When the majority of the troops are clear of the forest have the AT-AT's and Interceptors burn what's left of it."

036


	37. Chapter 37

+++ 

Jag's flight and the Interceptor Squadron flew over the city. Taking a chance, they were only at about half the altitude called for in high flight observation. Nothing happened after their first pass but on their second the artillery vehicles started directing fire up at them.

"Scatter formations. Keep it erratic and don't get hit."

With most of the squadron breaking up and farther away from the fire sources, Jag heeled his fighter over and dove towards the ground, Tarth sticking right with him. Unwilling to waste a good chance for a strafing run, Jag fired lasers at the source of some of the ground fire. Before they could hit, both his and Tarth's laser bolts winked into nothingness at a familiar distance from the ground. Pulling up and putting all power to engines the two pilots soon rejoined the rest of the squadron.

"Everyone stay at altitude and continue to dodge fire."

He switched back to the Command Frequency the General had called him on. "Fel to General Richardson."

"Go ahead Fel."

"We just made a run at one of their artillery. We didn't get a very good look at it but they are definitely shielded."

There was a long pause then the General asked. "The same kind of shielding as their ships use?"

"The same. It could take a lot of firepower to remove them."

"That's a problem. I'm sending you a Gunboat squadron, do what you can. There will be a Corvette in firing position to hit those targets from medium altitude in five minutes, but their gunners arn't so good. There are buildings surrounding those enemy positions with human life signs. They're being used as shields from our ground forces. Do something about that as well will you?"

Jag calculated numbers and forces then replied. "I need two Assault shuttles and a Sentinel. Any fire the other squadrons could direct toward the targets would help."

"Fine you've got it, just get the job done."

+++ 

Jag orbited above the combat groundside waiting for his forces to reach attack positions.

"All fighters direct fire at the westernmost artillery setup. Gunboats, fire one missile apiece at the roadway twenty meters north of the target."

As soon as the fighters opened up, two Assault Shuttles and a Sentinel dropped to the deck from their waiting position and screamed in towards the west side of the city.

Laser and Ion cannon fire from twenty eight vehicles converged on the enemy position. As usual many of the lasers disappeared and return fire in the form of Plasma licked at the shields of the less maneuverable Gunboats. Most of the concussion missiles were ignored though, and they hit the street with a large explosion, throwing up a fireball the size of the buildings around it.

Illuminated by the explosion Jag could see that the enemy weapon was a large lumbering creature almost as tall as an AT-AT. The large bony ridge along it's back served at the mount for the plasma weapon which appeared to be grafted to it. Then the explosion and shockwave swept under the tiny voids it had been using for defence, tearing into it's hind and flank. The creature's back end dropped but it kept firing, scoring a hit on an Interceptor and then a Gunboat that couldn't get out of the way in time.

The Imperial fighters could no longer direct mass fire at it, being forced to dodge fire not only from the wounded beast but the other three in the city as well. Then the Assault shuttles swung around a corner in the city streets. Their Light Turbolasers, normally used for tackling resisting ships tore through the wounded back side of the monster, burning through it until beams came out the front of it's armoured hide.

"Direct fire at the other artillery beasts to keep them distracted." Instructed Jag. "I'm going down for a closer look at the dead one and the hostages."

The Sentinel Class landing craft hovered between buildings until it reached the burning smouldering hulk of the dead monster. The three vehicles set down and directed shields above them should any fire come their way. Stormtroopers charged from the landing ramps and entered the buildings. No sooner had they entered then the strobing flashes of blaster and stun shots flashed from the entrances.

Moments later the Troopers backed out of the buildings and headed for the safety of the shuttles. A horde a humanoids charged out after them, some armed most not. They looked a great deal like humans except for strange calcifications and growths on them. Some appeared to have growths farther along than the others, looking almost like armour. The Stormtroopers formed a firing line two deep around the shuttles, overpowering the humanoids while the shuttle crews brought their weapons to bear.

Jag punched up the General. "Fel to Richardson."

"Go."

"Recommend that you implement planetary quarantine procedures. The humans that were supposed to be in the buildings have strange growths. They appear to be parasitic but there's no way to be sure right now. They are attacking out troops without any regard to their own safety, most are unarmed."

"That's going to make things tricky. Capture one, I don't care how, we'll have to study some. Do you believe that the rest of the humans we detected will be like this?"

"There is no way to be sure sir other than to take the other positions."

"Figures. Capture one and pull back. Don't bother with the other artillery."

"Aye sir."

Jag swung his fighter around and poured laser cannon shots into the attacking mob, trying to cut it off from the buildings. At the same time contacting the trooper commander to capture some of the mutated looking humans for study.

A man in a modified space trooper suit grabbed an opponent and backhanded him into unconsciousness before lifting and carrying him back to a shuttle. Another was shot with several stun beams and tackled by three regular troopers. All the while the laser cannon from both the shuttles and Jag's cycled, putting more energy into the mass trying to exit the building, turning the pavement and Ferrocrete molten. Jag was grateful he wouldn't ever have to find out what it smelled like out there.

Then the Troopers were back aboard their shuttles, the landing ramps going up and the vehicles backing away. Without a second thought, he fired a pair of Concussion missiles into the base floor of the building, bringing the five levels above it telescoping down and into the street. He kicked the Tie backwards on repulsors just enough to avoid the falling debris then turned and followed the shuttles until they were out of the city.

037


	38. Chapter 38

+++ 

"So, the local civilians may or may not be infected with some sort of parasite." Mumbled Richardson to himself. He knew what that meant; full quarantine or destruction of the population. Preferably one following the other. The life signs surrounding the artillery positions had just turned from potential shields for the enemy, into targets for his soldiers.

"Inform the AT-AT units that friendly fire restrictions on Civilians have been withdrawn. If they can be easily captured do so, otherwise shoot to kill."

Not long after the order was given the Walkers opened up with their large guns on buildings across the river. Their longer range fire now allowed them to stay farther back and fire with impunity. It would still take some time to demolish the buildings shielding the remaining alien artillery.

"Sir, Corvette Merser is on station at medium altitude. Awaiting instructions."

"About time. Tell them to descend to fifteen hundred metres above ground level. They're to target any artillery creatures they can locate. They're free to retreat to higher altitude if they take too much damage. Have the walkers ready to advance."

+++ 

Above the city paired Turbolaser bolts from the Corvette Merser rained down on the artillery beast. Their slow rate of fire allowed the beast's voids time to absorb the shots and recover. The Merser's Captain seeing this rolled the Corvette eighty degrees, bringing both heavy Turbolaser turrets to bear. When that still proved to be of little effect they fired into the surrounding buildings.

The heavy beams struck three of the short apartment buildings blasting them apart with little effort. Shattered fragments of Ferrocrete and tansparisteel flew in every direction, some bouncing off the beast's thick hide others being sucked into singularities. Seeing the problem the Gunboat squadron swept down and fired a full missile spread at the buildings and ground around the target, again using cannon fire in an attempt to distract the singularities.

The overlapping blast waves, debris and cannon fire proved too much for the monster and soon a Turbolaser burst burned through it, dropping it to the ground. The other two creatures must have known what was happening because they were soon on the move, directing more fire up at the fighters and Corvette than anything else. With no more artillery harassment the Imperial troops were clear to make the run to the city.

The AT-AT's pounding across the landscape fast reached the south west bridge into the city. AT-ST's charged ahead across the bridge and throngs of ground troops and APC's followed close behind the larger vehicles. A second AT-AT formation reached a crossroad farther to the east leading to another bridge. This one was held by fifty or so Vong, again mostly the shorter blade wielding ones with a few tall thin commanders.

This time though some of the smaller warriors were equipped with a few additional weapons. Globs of what looked to be a thick gelatinous substance were thrown by foot soldiers in the rear ranks. After impact the globs burst into flames, burning hotly. Several Stormtroopers that were hit went down writhing in flames as the substance soaked through cracks in their armour. An AT-ST was also forced off when it was hit by several globs, their weapons in danger of overheating.

The infantry and their bio-weapons had no effect on the AT-AT's which marched right over their positions, crushing many. The following troopers were quick to dispatch any survivors, with three of the white armoured soldiers targeting each of the remaining aliens. The second bridge was reached before forces had even finished crossing the first one. Then they were into the city itself with the Vong artillery no longer able to easily hit them if they had wanted to.

The street fighting proved to be harsh, with infantry having to move from building to building to be certain they were cleared. This was emphasized when swarms of the short Vong Reptoid soldiers came charging out of a building nearly flanking a platoon. Occasionally some of the altered humans would also be included in the mix, prompting surprise among some of the troops.

Scout troopers reached one of the positions that had been used for cover by an artillery beast and found it empty. The humans had been scattered and put to use elsewhere in the city.

+++ 

Jag swooped low above the roof tops firing paired lasers towards the sides of an Artillery beast. Some of the pilots were taking to nicknaming them 'Range's' due to their mountainous looking spines. The lasers failed to get past the defences so he pulled up rather than enter the area where Turbolaser bolts were falling.

The gunners on the Corvette Merser were poor shots and the bright beams struck all around their target as the Range stampeded down streets at impressive speeds. As Jag pulled up to get a better look at where it was heading the Merser's Captain came over the com. "We're pulling up for a few minutes to let our shields recharge. Let us know if there's a need for us before then."

Now at a higher altitude Jag could see that the Range was heading back towards the Imperial ground forces. There were several taller buildings in the way, mostly ten story height structures, blocking it from firing into the approaching walkers.

"Fel to forward AT-AT group you have a Range, -er artillery beast incoming from a street up ahead. From the east now."

Most Stormtroopers quickly got off of the street and into buildings. A few heavy support teams took up positions in windows that had been blasted out and shoulder fired missile teams rushed forward as the AT-AT's stopped.

The Range had been shielded from most of the fighters as it passed between two taller buildings. Then it lumbered around the corner and was immediately hit by everything the ground forces had. Six missiles peppered it with bloody craters while the heavy Cannon shots were sucked into voids. Small arms fire didn't penetrate it's tough hide but the E-web teams were making some progress.

A plasma ball took the lead AT-AT in the front legs, the explosion lifting it up in the air and sending it slamming down onto it's back. A second knocked a heavy walker off it's feet and into a building, it's ferrocrete front crumbling down into the street. Enraged that it was still being injured the monster spun, firing streamers into the sides of buildings, blasting out whole sides of them. Troopers that had taken up positions inside were crushed under debris or thrown into other parts of the structures.

Five Gunboats dropped down to street level flying between buildings and made strafing runs on the wounded Range. Cannon fire from the two remaining AT-AT's cut through one leg and then another, collapsing it and exposing it's belly. A final burst of plasma scoured off the top on a third walker before the heavy fighters put it out of it's misery.

038


	39. Chapter 39

+++ 

Richardson looked over the reports coming in from the city and shook his head.

"I want the Corvette Merser back down there engaging that last Artillery unit. I don't care if it's headed farther away into the University complex, just kill it."

"Sir the Corvette can't kill one by itself and the Gunboats are taking heavy damage. The Interceptor Squadron assisting them have already pulled back."

"Fine, send one of the other Interceptor squadrons in to assist them. Once they're in place pull that Gunboat unit back to the landing zone. The Ties and the Corvette can harass that thing until the Tie Bombers are ready for their run."

"Yes sir."

The General went back to watching the holo displays of the city as his troops continued to advance. Towards the east a fully supported AT-AT unit had reached one of the strange star shaped structures the Aliens had built, this one in a park. This one looked to be quite flat and there were what looked like landing pads for corvette sized vehicles. This had to be their equivalent of a spaceport.

The Vong forces protecting it put up only token resistance, choosing instead to retreat either into the city or public gardens overgrown with strange foliage. In the tighter confines of the city it would be easier to set up ambushes while they could set any number of traps in the gardens. Knowing these dangers the Stormtroopers flanked the gardens while the walkers vaporised the plant cover with laser cannon.

The forward elements of the groups that had entered the city via different bridges finally came into contact. Before long all approaches to the entire southern waterway were under Imperial control and a more concentrated push into the city could begin.

"Tie Bombers are now reaching attack range sir."

"About time. Where's the surviving Range?"

"It's headed for the other star shaped structure sir, here." Pointed the aid.

"All right, hit it with everything. Proton bombs, missiles, everything they have. We have one of their structures, it won't be seen as a loss if we destroy the other one instead of capturing it."

+++ 

Jag watched as the Tie Bomber squadron dropped down towards the remaining Range. They came in, flying in a double stacked V formation out of the east. As they swept below the Merser, which was holding fire for them, they dropped their heavy proton bombs. The fall of the heavy bombs appeared almost slow, as if they were taking their time and had no intention of being rushed.

The Range did it's best to project defences to protect itself from the falling weapons. Six bombs were dragged into singularities, the rest hit all around it. Eighteen explosions ripped through that part of the city, half of them overlapping, giving no chance for anything to survive. A dying burst of plasma fire reached up to grab at the bombers but these were newer craft, equipped with shields to ensure their payloads reached target. The Bombers were shaken up by the fire but took no losses. The shockwave carried through the rest of the city, shattering poorly built windows and rattling troopers inside their helmets.

When the dust and flame cleared Jag looked down into the crater from above and found no remains of the monster. Tie craft began over flights of the city without serious worry of ground fire. Every so often one of the pilots would report taking hits from razor bugs thrown by enemies on the ground but they could never penetrate armour of a Starfighter.

As Jag was heading back to the South again he heard a very different clank come from one of his stabilizer wings.

"Fel to Elsin, I just heard something come from my portside stabilizer. Did you see anything?"

The other pilot's voice came back sounding uncertain. "Yeah I was just about to com you. Something landed on it. It's about half a metre long, looks to be another kind of bug. I think it's-"

The sudden scream of tearing metal failed to drown out Tarth's response.

"Sithspit! That thing just took a bite out of your stabilizer!"

Another one of the bugs flew up and latched onto the front of the same stabilizer this time near the laser cannon mount. Large mandibles latched onto the cannon and acids started to burn through the armour like it was candy to them. Tarth's scream of alarm drew his attention away.

"It's trying to burn through my canopy! I can't shake it off!"

Other starfighters were also starting to report attacks by the new wave of bugs.

"Tarth, set your self destruct and eject before it gets near your hatch!"

The sensor contact indicating his wingman changed to a blinking indicator showing he had ejected. The Tie spiralled out of control and crashed on the south side of the river. Damage diagnostics lit up showing that the portside pylon was weakening and would soon be in danger of collapse. Running the risk of tearing the stabilizer off Jag went into a hard dive and armed missiles. As the ground swiftly angled up at him he fired the missiles nearly at point blank range. The explosion rocked the Tie, dropping the shields and putting a series of star shaped cracks in the forward canopy.

Barely in control he brought his fighter out over one of the abandoned fields half way to the main landing zone and set down on repulsors. The landing was a bumpy one as the underside of the fighter was damaged which included the repulsor lifts. He set the onboard systems to go through an automatic shutdown and lifted up the pilot seat pulling out an E-11 Carbine. Cracking the hatch open and peeking out Jag could see that one of his hitchhikers was still alive.

Though it was burned and half of it's body was now missing, the bug was still moving. It's mouth was still secreting acid and chewing through the wing pylon. Several legs were also intact letting it move just enough to keep up the destruction. Setting the Carbine for full auto Jag lifted it above the hatch sill, aimed, and fired. The first shot blew it's tiny little head off and the next second's worth of fire ripped it to shreds. The damage to the fighter was done though and it would need the entire pylon replaced to fly again.

Pulling out his comlink Jag found the main frequency used by the starfighters in atmosphere. "This is Colonel Fel to all starfighters, try to shoot down the new bugs before they can get to your fighters. They don't seem to be all that strong, a stray cannon shot should take any of them out."

The commander of the Tie Defender squadron came on the com half a minute later. "Thanks' Colonel. We also had to set target recognition to flag smaller flying objects. Hope that helps _you_ out, over."

"I was a little too late for my own advice. Good hunting up there."

"Roger Colonel."

With that dialog over the downed pilot began making his way toward one of the roads used by the ground forces. Hopeful he would be able to catch a ride back to the landing zone.

039


	40. Chapter 40

+++ 

"That was annoying." Grumbled the large General. "We lost nearly half of our Tie Starfighters to those stupid bugs in one way or another."

"It's a good thing the Assault Gunboats had been pulled back from the city sir." Commented his aid.

"Yes. Now we have to do most of the action on foot the same as the enemy is doing. How are our troops faring?"

"The infantry are exhausting their power packs as fast or faster than we can get new men to the font lines. The enemy body armour is very durable. At the moment we're only able to advance because of the heavy fire provided by the walkers."

Richardson made a noise of further annoyance. "We don't have enough troops at the front line to take the entire city right now. We need time to rearm and reorganise. Have our men begin setting up defensible positions and scout around for good locations to place a forward command post. Once you find a good spot start sending in shuttles with weapons, equipment and ammunition."

This was going to take some time Jerej knew. Night would be coming on soon and there was no way of guessing at the enemies' night abilities. Symbols on the map representing deployed E-web positions began to appear slowly, forming a line across the city. AT-ST's took up positions on the streets that intersected that line. Their concussion grenade launchers would serve well for defence and give time for some of the troops to go for ammunition.

A few undamaged AT-AT's located a good position for a command post and formed a perimeter. Soon shuttles were arriving carrying ammo for the Imperial troops. With the setting sun this would now be a waiting game. It would be many hours before all of the ground units were ready in sufficient numbers to resume the advance.

+++ 

The sun sank below the horizon well before Jag had made it back to the landing zone. He wasn't the only pilot to have been downed and the Stormtroopers were too busy to help uninjured ones that were on their side of the font lines. He had met Tarth at one of the bridges on his walk. Other than having his flight suit soaked through he didn't appear any worse for wear.

He reported into the command post, received permission to take shifts flying for pilots that were rotated off for sleep, then found a cot for a few fours.

Three hours later he was woken up by a woman in an intelligence officer's uniform.

"Colonel Fel?" She asked but before he could reply she continued. "Come with me."

+++ 

"Sir." Interrupted the General's aid. "There's an intelligence officer here to see you."

"Intel, what do they want? Who is it?"

"It's a Commander Shanna Vance sir."

"Oh her. Fine send her in."

The door to the tactical room opened and in stepped the woman Jerej had last seen on the bridge of the Admiral's command ship. This time wearing a uniform instead of the dark hooded robe.

The aid stepped outside, not wanting to be a potentially disposable witness.

"Welcome!" Belted out the General in his best booming voice. "Come to see how inept I am at planetary invasion?"

She tilted her head and looked sideways at him. "Come now General. I've read your file. If you were truly inept at this sort of work you would have been dead long ago. As this could be considered one of the first ground engagements against this species it's expected that casualties will be high."

"They're higher than I thought they would be. AT-AT's are nothing but large targets to the enemy's equivalent units. Our fighters are being chewed up when they provide any cover fire. The Stormtroopers are almost forced into retreat again and again with the enemy close combat tactics. I think I'd do better fighting defensive battles against these little monsters than offensive ones."

"I heard reports about some kind of parasite."

"Yes, yes. Human Civilians that were captured by the enemy by the looks of it. We found some other civilians that had been hiding in the forests since the invasion and they didn't look to be infected. From what the medics have been able to figure out, the infected ones appear to have been implanted with parasitic nodes or things. It's not airborne like we feared at first. At least... we don't _think_ it's airborne."

"That is not reassuring." replied the Emperor's Hand, frowning.

"I'm still waiting for more results. I don't want to find out nobody will be getting off this planet."

She pushed on with the conversation. "I'd like to take a special forces team behind enemy lines. Myself and some Stormtroopers, mostly candidates for the Imperial Guard."

"Air or walker support?"

"No, just infantry. We'll need some heavy weapons and I've found a pilot for our insertion vehicle."

"You're not just going to take a shuttle or sneak in on foot?"

"No. It's to look like an accident. What areas have you been encountering the most of these vehicle attacking bugs in?"

040


	41. Chapter 41

+++ 

Jag had recognised the woman in the Intel officer's uniform as the cloaked figure from the bridge of the _Superior_. Though he had done his best to pretend that he didn't recognise her, he had the distinct feeling that it was of little use. Now he looked over the strange vehicle that he had been tapped to pilot out over the enemy held portions of the city. From the outside it looked like an assault shuttle but the internal spaces were closer to that of an armoured personnel gravsled.

Troopers armed with heavy weapons and camouflage gear were strapping themselves into tightly packed jump seats facing each other. At the front was a single pilot's seat and another jump seat. He climbed in to begin system checks and soon located a bank of controls for explosives planted in the hull. He had only heard about vehicles like this, never seen one.

The Intel officer climbed into the forward most Jump seat. She was wearing a combat suit that was somewhat of a cross between regular and Scout Trooper armour. A lightsaber was attached to special mount on the leg armour. "Colonel, here's your briefing." She spoke up. "You're to take us out over the city in a search pattern until those sabotage bugs that downed your fighter attack us. Once they've done enough damage to the outer shell we trigger the explosives and then crash land behind enemy lines."

Jag wasn't happy with where this was going but he was under orders. He brought the shuttle up on Repulsors and into the light of the sun coming up over the horizon. They headed for the city once the ship cleared the tree line. "Are there any areas that I should aim for as we crash?" He asked.

"We're trying to put our insertion team behind enemy lines with as little interference as possible. You're an experienced pilot Colonel. Find a place."

He scanned the city layout and surrounding land mass. "Will this vehicle work underwater?"

+++ 

The head of High Admiral Burgan stared out from the holo projection hovering above General Richardson's desk.

"According to the data from the ExGal facility, the creatures that were attacking your starfighters are called 'Grutchins.' They can eat through just about anything given enough time. It looks like the Vong have to destroy any of them that survive attacking their enemies after release. Either that or the particular alien that was observed didn't care for them too much, it's hard to say."

"They arn't very tough, but they can cause a lot of damage. Can I expect any starfighter replacements?"

"No, I'm afraid not. We're sending down a full garrison base for you so that should help with starfighter maintenance."

"It's something. I don't know how well one would hold up to these 'Range' artillery creatures they use. It takes a lot to down one of them."

"Ok, ok, you'll get five more Tie bombers with your garrison base but that's it. Command doesn't want us sitting here any longer than necessary. Once the planet has been pacified I'll leave a garrison on the ground, a Destroyer and escorts in orbit then we pull back. If the enemy lands more ground forces do you think you can hold?"

Jerej grinned. "Worried I won't make it if you leave me behind?"

"You're not staying behind, I'll need help with assaults on other planets. Will whatever commander you leave here be able to hold?"

"Hard to say. I give us a few days if the fleet has to run for it, provided we have defence shields in place."

"The Core fleets are starting to mobilise. Faster ships are already on their way out but it could be months before we have enough strength here to force a total victory. The Garrison base should be finished inside the week. We'll keep the main force in orbit until then. How many troops should we leave behind?"

"Two augmented Regiments should be enough."

"Good. I'll see about finding occupation troops from the other Star Destroyers. One of them is bound to be carrying a Floating fortress or two. Burgan out."

The General grinned, the HAVr A9 Floating Fortress was preferred by occupation troops but were shunned by attack forces in favour of the AT-AT. Against Rebels they were roughly equal in their preferred terrain types. Against these Vong there was no easy way of knowing.

+++ 

Jag watched as the red warning lights went off indicating more damage was being done to the engines. They were losing power and if they didn't throw off the bugs now they would soon plummet from the sky. It was time to set off the charges in the aft parts of the shuttle. He started to reach for the switch but it suddenly flicked upwards on it's own.

The explosives detonated throwing him against the restraints and sending the shuttle out of control. He angled away from the city as much as possible finding that they were headed straight for the river on the northern side of the city. When he tried to level their descent the falling deathtrap nearly went into a flat spin.

Commander Vance took the opportunity to send out a distress signal.

"Mayday! Mayday! We've been hit! Engines out, we're going down!"

Using every trick he knew Jag still couldn't slow the descent of the shuttle. He aimed for the water as called for in the plan but now he wasn't sure if they would survive the impact. At the last second he yelled out, "Brace!" and grabbed his restraints. Everything seemed to slow down as if the air inside had turned as thick as water, restricting movement. When the air returned to normal the vehicle was surrounded by water and sinking.

"Anti-concussion field." Said the Intel officer replying to his unspoken question. She then reached over and flipped the rest of the detonation switches, setting them off in sequence. The explosions ripped their smaller insertion vehicle free of the wreckage. Engaging the small repulsors Jag started them moving upstream.

Within minutes they had moved out of the city and around a bend in the river. They continued against the current at a slow pace for the next half hour. Vance signalled him to bring them in to shore and Jag grounded their vehicle in shallow water just short of land, the topside hatch exposed above the water line. Vance was un-strapped and out the hatch in seconds. Stormtroopers and Commandos followed, quickly making their way to shore and establishing a perimeter.

The Intel officer spotted something amiss and re-entered the ship to speak with Jag. "There's damage to the starboard repulsors just below the water line. The burns continue all along that side."

"It's worse than that." responded Jag, turning off the instrument display. "We only have the two small aft repulsor plates working. The main repulsors must have been chewed up by the charges. The water could have reflected enough of the blast. This thing wouldn't make ten kph over land now."

Vance paused then looked aft into the empty trooper compartment. Grabbing a weapon she handed it to the pilot. "Looks like you're on foot then. Grab a combat suit then let's move."

041


	42. Chapter 42

+++ 

The team hiked up the embankment, crossed an abandoned roadway and headed northwest. Tree lines bordered a series of fields along the river, running in straight lines away from the water. The fields were filled with un-harvested crops nearly at maturity. Why the Vong hadn't taken in the crops yet was beyond Jag. Pirates or insurgents would have stripped the fields by now and loaded the food into ships. Unless it had been poisoned somehow. The young pilot didn't feel interested in testing that theory at present.

The scout that had taken point halted and held up a fist. Everyone in the column stopped and crouched or looked for cover. The scout, also crouching now made quick short chopping motions with his hand, pointed roughly forty-five degrees to their right. Vance keeping low headed up to the point man.

"There's five or six of them." She whispered to the scout. "Hard to say, some of them are close together."

"I only counted four." Replied the scout.

"Some are behind trees. I think they're humans."

She gave a hand signal for everyone to take cover, though most had by now.

The tiny light of a signal flasher appeared from behind a bush, sending a message in blink code. It was just a basic signal that even civilians knew.

"Send the counter signal." She instructed the Scout. "Everyone hold fire." She whispered back to the others.

A half minute later a handful of humans dressed in painted clothing emerged from the underbrush. From the way they moved all but one of them were civilians. A tall man waved them towards his position. Standing the squad moved up and took cover in the bushes along with the civilians.

The tall man looked like an ex-Stormtrooper and wore patched together armour with leaves and parts of other local plants adhered to it. His hair was streaked through with grey at the temples. "Quan Rowan." He introduced himself, sketching a light salute. "Professional Soldier."

"A Mercenary." Frowned the Commander.

"Business was getting slow so I had signed on with the local constabulary. When the invasion sirens went off I tried to get as many people out as I could."

"What have you seen from out here?"

"Just enough. We were farther north but started heading back towards the city after we saw the landings yesterday. Any idea who these guys are?"

"Some. How widespread are they in the area?"

"Not very. They swept the farming areas and killed or took away anyone they could find. We tried to fight a small group of them once but that didn't go well. We were able to contact another survivor group closer to the city. They said the captured people were being experimented on."

"They have been." Said Jag. "There was some kind of growths put on them and they attacked our troops like they were possessed."

"Yeah… Makes sense. We dragged away the body of one of their weird little soldier types. Had some kind of bony hooks and things sticking out in places." The man shook his head. "Creepy."

He reached down and traced a line through the dirt. "That's the river, I figured we were about here. We tried to come in from the northwest yesterday but there was a base hidden in the forest."

"There's a third base structure?" Questioned Vance.

"Yeah I guess. We didn't get very close. We did see a lot of those shell shaped little out-buildings they use."

"The teams in the city didn't report any smaller structures near the captured landing pad. There may be some in the campus but we might have mistaken them for debris."

"We'll have to check them out."

042


	43. Chapter 43

+++ 

Three hours later they were deep in a large patch of forest north east of the city. Shanna peeked around a tree and looked through a small pair of macro binoculars at the structures to the south. It looked to be another of the giant starfish shaped constructs like those in the city, but this one had wrapped itself around and between the trees. With the heavy cover it would be impossible to spot from the air. Surrounding it were dozens of smaller shell like objects standing a little over two metres tall. They appeared to be empty at the moment and only a dozen of the taller warriors patrolled the grounds.

"Twelve outside on regular patrols." Said Vance to the others.

"Should be around the same number inside." Commented Rowan. "Some of our people tried to go in closer but were caught. When that happened about an equal number of them rushed outside."

"How far out were they? Did they set off an alarm?"

"One hundred metres or so. The rest of us were too far away to tell what tipped off the warriors."

"Ok. We set up no closer than two hundred meters. You should have a minute to sight your targets. I'll give a double click for a ready signal then a second double click a few seconds later for everyone to fire. Stay low and quiet. Move."

The Stormtroopers and Commandoes took the flanks while the armed civilians went up the middle along with the Rowan and Jag. They took their time, careful to stay behind cover and not make very much noise. One of the civies tripped and almost fell but was caught in time by one next to him. Rowan waved them to take cover for a moment while a patrol came towards the area. When they were far enough past, the group continued on until the proper distance. The civies set up under the remains of a fallen log and some underbrush and waited.

They watched the patrol circuit carried out and had familiarised themselves with it by the time the first double click came. Everyone sighted down their weapons, either at the closest enemy or those in position to respond. The second click came and fifteen blaster bolts flashed out at their targets. The Commandos downed their targets either with powerful or well targeted head shots. Jag's weapon burned most of the way through the chest armour a warrior was wearing, throwing him off his feet. Fire from the rest burned tiny holes in armour or spun enemies around.

All pretences at stealth abandoned with some of the enemy patrol still alive, some of the troopers opened up with support weapons. Less than a handful of surviving warriors charged the civilian positions. Jag's blaster burned off a fist sized chunk of a warrior's arm but otherwise seemed to have no effect. The Vong swung his melee weapon in an arc at the tree stump Jag had been using for cover. He fell back as the blade like edge bisected the stump, dropping it to the side.

The pilot fired blind from his prone position and the beam struck his enemy in the throat. The Alien grabbed the remains of his neck with one hand and raised his weapon to swing with the other. A second bolt caught it in the forehead and a third in the chest, then it dropped. The last warrior was dispatched in a spray of automatic fire from Rowan's carbine. Two of the civilians were dead.

"Move up and take up new positions before the next wave comes out!" Yelled Shanna.

"Leave the dead." Instructed the mercenary. "If we win we can come back for them later."

Crashing through the underbrush they soon reached the new line formed by the troopers. Then the enemy came charging out of the main structure. Twelve tall warriors appeared but not alone. Thirty others, a mix of the little troopers and implanted humans raced out ahead of them. Moving erratically, dodging back and forth as they came, all of these targets proved to be much more difficult to put down. The hail of razor and blast bugs that preceded them were just as deadly as the close combat weapons. One Trooper was hit in the face while another lost an arm but kept fighting.

Rowan rolled behind cover to the downed trooper and picked up his heavier blaster. Using the E-11 on auto fire while conserving power on the heavier one. Before the charging mass could reach their positions Shanna yelled out. "Grenades then pull back!"

Six fragmentation grenades went flying into the patch of forest already filled with enemies. Four seconds later blasts and shrapnel ripped through running bodies, tearing the closer one to pieces or maiming others. The fragments bounced off the armour of those farther away. The troopers pulled halfway back to their first position, dodging or shooting at razor bugs. They set up behind whatever cover was available but the tall warriors had quickened their pace. Some continued to throw razor bugs while those that had used all that they carried ran in.

One, which appeared to be better armed than the others, had noticed Shanna giving orders and charged her. The Vong spun his weapon in front of him while he continued to dodge, preventing any solid blaster bolts from landing. Then his weapon went rigid, straightening out like a lance. Vance barely ducked and dodged to the side in time to avoid the slash but her carbine was cut in two. Rolling to the side she came back to her feet with her silver handled weapon at the ready.

An overhead cut by the warrior that should have split her from head to navel was deflected by a yellow beam of light springing from the lightsaber handle. Not seeming phased at all by the new development the two started trading lightning fast blows slashes and kicks when the weapons were out of position. In a blinding series of slashes and deflections Vance drew her opponent's weapon out wide allowing her a slash across his chest. The lightsaber couldn't penetrate the strange armour however, only leaving a not so deep looking gash in it's surface.

Surprised, she nearly missed seeing the melee weapon arcing in towards her neck from the side. The lightsaber came up in time to stop it but there was enough force behind the blow to knock her back nearly off her feet. A Spray of full automatic fire from a trooper's support weapon caught the warrior in the side throwing him to the ground. Before he could recover Vance was above him and driving her lightsaber into his throat.

Two of the warriors had retreated running for help, leaving the remaining smaller ones to fight and die. They were out of range before any of the marksmen could spare attention for them. Most on the team were sporting wounds now and the scout trooper was dead. The one missing an arm was still alive, the stump having been cauterized shut by one of the civilians before they retreated from the first line.

"Everyone patch yourselves up for a bit then a few of us try to take a look at that building. Once that's over we call in an air strike."

043


	44. Chapter 44

+++ 

Kyp stood on what must have been one of the tallest buildings he had ever seen. In every direction were other towers of equal or lesser height, stretching to the horizon as far as the eye could see. In one direction was what looked to be mountains covered almost to the peaks by the cityscape. In the other direction stood a huge structure that dwarfed the one he was looking out from.

Transparisteel and stone had been built up into majestic spires and interconnected towers. Grand promenades and gardens were encased in transparisteel domes. Statues as large as Corvettes could be seen at points around the building's exterior. All of it combining to create a giant pyramid shape that seemed to have an almost greenish hue.

The skies should have been filled with air traffic by the size of this city but there was almost none. A dull rumbling began to build, permeating everything, and the sky seemed to change colour. The sky's dull bluish purple changed to bloody red and everything seemed to darken. There was thunder and wind that threatened to throw him from his perch but he remained, watching, wanting to know what was happening.

Then the rain started to fall from high above. It was not water that fell though, but fire. A hail of burning debris filled the air, larger pieces appearing with each passing moment. A pair of nearly whole Golan platforms pierced the clouds followed by the blasted and ruined hulks of Star Destroyers. Debris was pelting the cityscape, punching holes in ferrocrete and transparisteel. One of the platforms struck the mountains and buildings around it were flattened like wind blowing grass. A Destroyer struck the great building to the west, collapsing the great domes surrounding and built into it.

The entire city was swept up in a fiery inferno consuming everything. He tried in vain to climb higher to stay above the rising tide of flames but soon the tower he was on was swept up as well. He tried to jump from the ferrocrete blocks as the building began to collapse but couldn't seemed to gather enough of the force around himself. Then he was falling, surrounded by the scorching blasts and broken transparisteel that would surely crush him if he didn't die from the fall.

+++ 

Kyp snapped awake screaming, the feeling of fire scorching his lungs still fresh in his mind. Breathing heavily, drenched in sweat he looked around. He was still in his small cabin on the Lady Luck, no flames surrounded him and he didn't appear to be injured in any way. Rolling out of the bed Kyp shrugged on his robe and went to check on their progress through hyperspace.

044

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

_RE: Kyp's Vision: A piece that I originally wrote seprately from the main NSO Storyline to give the series an equivilant to one of Jacen's visions durring the NJO war. As I found myself writer's blocked on getting the Commando team out of the forest I added it to the end of the originally posted NSO thread. _

This turned out to be the last thing I would post before a massive forum crash very nearly destroyed my work. Thankfully I was able to salvage the last writings using Google. This was essential because I often heavily edited my work after copying it from the main NSO Word file on my computer. However it still resulted in halting the whole process and essentially killed this fic for 5 months. 

On March 18 2007, at the continuious prodding of Star Wars fan "Darth Tex" I restarted the project and posted one 'Chapter' a day while planning out how things would pick up where I'd left off. 


	45. Chapter 45

+++ 

Lieutenant Commander Kirrek, second officer aboard the Star Destroyer Ardent sat in his quarters contemplating how events had unfolded so far. He had been confined to quarters for days now, a pair of Stormtroopers stood guard outside. It was likely that he was suspected at a traitor but the Admiral didn't have enough evidence at the moment to make a true case. He wouldn't be brought before a trial until Intel had looked through all aspects of his life and determined that he was guilty.

That was normally how things were done. If he had presented any more of an immediate threat he didn't doubt that an accident would have happened to him days ago. Having to sit through a battle or two while unable to man his usual battle station was beginning to wear on him.

From outside the door to his quarters there was a metallic tink-tink followed by the deep thud normally associated with a stun grenade. The clattering of Stormtrooper armour hitting the deck was barely audible through the door. After a few second the door opened and a shaved headed man in a tech uniform stepped inside.

"Help me get the Troopers inside." he said without preamble.

The two of them grabbed the troopers one at a time and laid them out in the center of the room. After they were both bound and stripped of weapons the Commander turned to the tech.

"Who are you?"

"Cedrick Galdent, deep operative. You were mistaken as being the cause of an act of sabotage and have been scheduled to be executed."

"I'm not a Rebel agent."

"Who turned off the ship's internal security in the space dock then? Everyone else with the clearance to do it has an alibi."

"I... I don't remember. I though I'd fallen asleep for a few minutes."

Now that he though about it there were several instances over the past year or so where it had seemed like he'd dozed off for a few minutes.

"You're a sleeper agent. Look there's nothing I can do to get you off the ship but there's a Rebel pilot in the brig that you can get out. I can cause a select shut down in the com systems between the bridge, Brig and main landing bay."

The tech pulled a pad out of his front pocket.

"Everything you need to know is on that datapad. We have twenty minutes before the Stormtroopers outside have to report in, I'll rig a holo to stand in for them until then."

Kirrek sat looking at the tied up Stormtroopers contemplating this turn of events.

"Go now. Hurry." Prompted the tech. "There's precious little time left and I have work to do."

Kirrek stepped out the door and headed down the corridor, paging through the instructions on the data pad as he went.

+++ 

The doors to the brig parted and the Commander strode through as if not a thing was wrong. According the data pad the order for his execution hadn't been entered into the Ship's main databank yet so, as far as everyone else knew, he was just under suspicion.

The Stormtrooper officer in charge saluted him as he approached the desk.

"Sir, arn't you supposed to be confined to quarters?"

"The Admiral just had me let out. I'm to take the prisoner down to the landing bay now that one of the fighters has been rigged with a remote destruct. I'd like a few troopers to come along for escort in case she tries anything."

"Yes sir." The trooper looked over the screen in front of him quickly. "We'd already received Colonel Fel's consent to using the Rebel pilot before he went down the planet. Are we expecting combat soon sir?"

"Not just now. The Commander wants to test if the Rebel will stay on her leash before we get into actual combat."

Things went smoothly. A small squad retrieved the prisoner from her cell and followed as Kirrek lead the way to the Turbolifts. The Rebel thankfully didn't show any sign that she recognised the Imperial officer. Not that she should recognise him Kirrek thought. As far as he knew he'd never met a Rebel in his life before today.

When they reached the main Hanger bay the Deck Officer was easy to find. He stood directing several dozen techs through vehicle recovery and repair efforts. He noticed the Stormtroopers as they approached and turned to the Commander.

"What can I do for you Commander?"

"I understand you have one of the captured A-wings rigged with a self destruct? We're to test out the pilot in it while we're in a non combat situation."

"Port side. We loaded it into one of the Tie launch racks. I'll have a tech show you which one."

The Deck officer yelled over to one of the various personnel in the bay and soon they were following him over to the docked fighter.

The launch rack directly next to it was occupied by another A-wing with bright green Imperial markings. The Tie pilot standing next to it waited until the last moment before he saluted.

"Both fighters checked out sir." Said the pilot. "The remote destruct can be triggered either from my fighter or the bridge."

"Good. Get your launch clearance from the bridge. Rebel, get in your fighter. If you make any hostile act towards an Imperial craft we'll blow you out of the stars. Understood?"

The Rebel nodded and climbed in, the Stormtroopers keeping blasters trained on her the whole time. Kirrek reached into the cockpit and hit the engine start, at the same time slipping the datapad into the side while the troopers couldn't see. After stepping away the officer and troopers waited nearby the few minutes until the fighter received clearance and launched. A pair of Tie craft followed soon after them.

045

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

_In a desperate attempt to avoid work on a post involving the ground side strike team I set up this small side story. The events with the captued Rebel pilot gave enough of a distraction for me that my subconsious 'writer' finally came up with a solution to the next Strike Team posts which had contributed to my Writer's block. _


	46. Chapter 46

+++ 

Booster Terrik, long-time smuggler and part-time Admiral in the Rebel fleet, bellowed at the top of his lungs to be heard over the bridge crew.

"Karrde, if you've been holding back any tricks for a special occasion now would be a good time."

Talon Karrde edged closer to Booster so that he wouldn't forced to shout as his partner had. "How long until that Imp taskforce gets here?"

"Best time is five minutes I figure." Replied the larger man shrugging.

They'd been pursued for nearly a week now by an Imperial taskforce after hijacking a heavy transport. Eventually the fleet had called for an Interdictor and so, a Dominator class ship had finally cut them off. The Galactic Venture may have been a big ship but even if she'd been a Star Destroyer it wouldn't be able to hold off the small Destroyer force that was after them.

Karrde paused with a comlink half raised to his lips. "Can the Venture drive off a Dominator in five minutes?"

"It depends on how good the equipment you gave us is. Pilot! Put us nose to nose with that vapin' Imp dragship. Get the fighters out there to cover us."

The smuggler built warship started to come about. The second that the main drives cleared the line of sight for the heavy turbolasers the weapons opened up. The topside guns unleashed everything they had. Fire from four Turbolaser and two Ion Cannon turrets lit up the Dominator's shields. The Imperial ship's return fire struck the Venture's re-enforced port shields. Imperial Skiprays launched their Torpedoes nearly overwhelming the Rebel ship's energy defences.

Then the T-wings and Tie Clutch craft swept out from behind the Venture. A few concussion missiles struck the blastboats before the approaching wave of Tie Starfighters caught up. Four squadrons of Interceptors and one of Avengers faced off against six squadrons Rebel fighters. Wheeling and darting neither side made themselves easy target. The Rebels had the advantage of shields on every fighter but the Imperials had better training.

Fighters that took damaged looped out of the main fight either to recharge shields or limp back to their carriers. All the while the Venture turned to face head on toward the Interdictor. When the maneuver was completed the ship thrust ahead with engines cranked past their safety limits. The Turbolasers on the forward hull were able to more easily open fire now filling space with more light. Quadlasers mounted amidships chased off any more blastboats that tried to make torpedo runs at the ship's flank.

"Range to target?" Asked the large Corellian.

"Not close enough." Responded the Secondary Weapons officer.

"Equalise the shields, the bow has enough extra plate to take a few hits."

"Booster what did you do with those weapons I traded you from the main stockyard?" Asked Karrde.

"Well to be honest I gave most of them to Iblis two years ago."

"But not all I assume?"

The bridge shook from Turbolaser impacts that had punched through the shields striking the bow.

Booster grinned at Karrde then turned back to his special weapons officer. "Range! How long?!"

"Ten...nine.."

"Divert power to the forward conveyors. Prepare to lever open the forward hold."

"Two...one...range."

"Weapons power to forward shields. Open the bay doors!"

The Heavily armoured sections making up the protective doors for the forward cargo hold swung down and out of the way exposing a honeycomb of tube like assemblies.

"Fire."

Thirty Torpedoes and Ten Heavy missiles flashed out of the forward bay. They struck the shields of the Interdictor like a wave with the slower Heavy missiles lagging only slightly behind. The Gravity Well disappeared and the aft shields dropped from the Imperial ship as her Captain put all defences forward. Some of the Heavy Missiles penetrated before the shields could be brought back up. Explosions were walked up the hull along the midline leaving five large craters. One of the forward gravity projectors was also hit spewing debris into the vacuum.

Another twenty Torpedoes flashed out and the remaining shields imploded. The Imperial ship began a hard turn putting all power to engines. The Tie craft rushed back to help cover their carrier as it fled.

"That'll do. Helm get us out of here."

The Venture turned and headed away in the opposite direction of the Interdictor. Fighters recovery began with the Tie clutch craft landing first. The large bays built out of two scrapped Strike Cruisers allowed the fighter to take off and land faster than most other ships.

Not far ahead of the Venture a small flotilla of armed freighters emerged from Hyperspace. At the forefront of them were the Pulsar Skate and an X-wing with green stripes.

"It looks like my no good Son-in-law finally arrived." Frowned Booster

"We should get out of here while we still have time." Commented Karrde.

"Fine." Booster picked up a comlink. "Venture to Skate, Mirax get us some nav co-ordinates quick. We have an Imperial fleet to lose."

"Already have some." Replied Booster's daughter over the com. "Compliments of the Bothan."

+++ 

When they were safely in hyperspace Booster turned to Karrde.

"Kre'fey wants us to do something for him or he wouldn't have given Mirax a set of jumps to follow."

"The real question should be 'will he be able to afford our services?'"

Booster laughed. "I hope you can afford another IOU Karrde."

046 

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

_The Galactic Venture was a cheap attempt of mine to make a ship in the Star Wars universe that looked a bit like the Battlestar Galactica. _


	47. Chapter 47

+++ 

Shanna Vance lead the way into the darkened interior of the Alien structure.

She held a blaster pistol in one hand and her lightsaber in the other. Two Troopers flanked her using their helmet lights to illuminate the corridor. The walls and ceiling were coated in a faintly glowing lichen but it seemed to grow more dim as they approached.

The remaining armed civilians and two Troopers stood guard at the entrance leaving a much reduced fireteam to scout the building. As interested as Jag was to learn more about the alien Yuuzhan Vong, sneaking into a building behind enemy lines wouldn't have been his first choice. He certainly had never expected to be anywhere near someone armed with a lightsaber.

Eventually they entered into a cavern like room that must have been near the center of the structure. Suspended from the ceiling were several of what appeared to be a rack like restraint device. Three of them were occuped.

"Watch yourselves." Cautioned Vance. "Don't get too close to those things."

One of the racks, which again turned out to be living creations, held a Tie pilot and the other two held Stormtroopers minus their armour. "Is there any way we get them out?" asked Jag looking a bit more closely. One or two appendages from the rack were wrapped arround each person's neck, as well as arms and legs.

Vance smirked for a second and then frowned in concentration. "These racks that are holding them seem to be keeping them at a set level of pain."

"Stormtroopers are trained to brace themselves against pain from wounds." Commented one of the commandoes.

Vance checked the racks again. "The ones holding the Stormtroopers look a bit tighter. Like they're inflicting more pain on them. Hard to tell for sure since they're all unconsious."

"Permission to wake one the troopers sir?" Asked the same Commando.

"Granted." Nodded Vance.

The armoured figure searched his utility belt for a moment until he found a small hypospray. He reached up and pressed it to the back of the trapped man's head before injecting it's contents.

"Used to wake people up from concussions. Not especially good for you but it's better than sitting in a coma."

The trapped man began to wake up and the appendages holding his body tightened forcing a grunt of pain from him. "We're trying to get you out of there soldier just hang on."

The other man did his best to nod.

"Ideas?" Asked Vance.

One of the Commandoes pulled against one of the restraining arms to loosen it and the others tigntened. "That's not going to work."

Jag looked from the prisoner and than to Vance. "Sir, you said it's keeping them in a constant level of pain right? What would happen if we inflicted more pain than the device was causing?"

Vance looked to the Commando closest to the rack. "Inflict a minor wound that we have enough medical equipment to deal with."

The Commando pulled out a vibroblade, checked that it was turned off, and then stabbed the trapped man in the arm. The prisoner groaned through clenched teeth, but the arms holding him loosened somewhat.

"It works but we'd probably kill him before we get him out of there at this rate."

The man hefted a pistol. "Gutshot or Stun Bolt?" He asked the Intel officer.

"Gutshot." The trapped man mannaged to get out.

"Do it." agreed Vance.

The commando angled himself so that the shot would angle across the front of his abdomen rather than burning straight into him and possibly hitting organs. The bright red bolt lit the room and the rack dropped somewhat but didn't release it's prisoner.

Vance, annoyance clear on her face, walked over and thumbed on her lightsaber slashing through the weakened strands in one swipe. The prisoner dropped into the waiting arms of the other Commandos who quickily applyed a bacta bandage to the gut wound.

There was a soft noise from one of the other entrances to the room and everyone brought weapons to bear. Nothing had appeared yet but it was getting closer.

"Let's get the other ones down quick."

The commando shot each of the still trapped prisoners without waking them up. Thankfully it still caused enough pain for the grasping racks to loosen. Two lightsaber slashes later and both men were on the floor.

Finally the thing that had been causing the noise entered the room. None of the Troopers fired immediately so that their mission recorders could get a good look at the creature. It was a sort of purplish pink colour and moved about slowly on four stubby legs. On the top of it's body though were appendages obviously intended to reach up to the trapped prisoners. The ends of some looked slightly sharp while other parts were covered in white almost rocklike pustules. It wandered about the room searching the racks for prisoners but generally ignoring the group of standing soldiers.

"Kill it." The first word was barely out of Shanna's mouth when four red beams converged on the creatures body. It dropped to the floor writhing for a moment, spilling blood on the floor. Small puffy almost sluglike creatures began to appear from near or possibly _in_ the walls. They began to soak up the small blood spills left by the larger one.

"Get a sample of one of those white things then burn the rest of it. We need to get out of here."

047 

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

_Heavily inspired by scenes from Dark Tide I. _


	48. Chapter 48

+++ 

The scout team now burdened by three wounded and only partially consious men had no choice but to return to the entrance. Rowan glanced over the three new wounded additions to the team. "Find any civillians in there?"

Jag shook his head. "There were restraints for more prisoners but these were the only ones there."

"Maybe this is where they break them in?" Suggested one of the Commandoes.

"Doesn't matter now." Said Vance "Let's drop a beacon and clear out before this place is hit from orbit."

Two Commandos took point and Vance brought up the rear while everyone else helped with the wounded. They headed west toward one of the roadways that headed into the city. It may have been closer to the larger troop concentrations of the city but it was the closest landing zone that a shuttle could set down in.

Half way there they encountered a group of Yuuzhan Vong and the team started taking Razorbug fire. "Go!" Yelled Vance as she batted one of the flying weapons out of the air with her lightsaber. One of the Commandoes pulled out a larger than normal com set and began broadcasting as they ran.

"This is insertion team Alpha requesting emergency evac. Landing zone will be hot. Co-ordinates..."

Those not totally burdened by the freed prisoners fired wildly into the forest all arround them. A Razorbug struck a tree next to Jag at shoulder level and he spared a moment to shoot it before it could free itself.

"Whatever happened to good old blasters and grenades?" shouted Rowan over the shooting. As if to make his point one of the Commandos stopped and threw a thermal detonator back the way they'd come. A sharp crack echoed through the forest five seconds later and a tree crashed to the ground. "Take that 'ya Alien bastards!"

The sound of heavy cannon fire could be heard from up ahead as the team approached the roadway embankment. As they cleared the tree line they saw that two Assault Shuttles and a upgraged Lambda hovered above the roadway spraying the area with their lasers. The Assault shuttles turned to create a defensive wall behind which the other shuttle descended to the ground.

Quan Rowan's grin was ear to ear as he turned to Jag "This is what I call extraction under fir-ght!" He was cut off mid sentance as an amphistaff jutted out from the center of his chest. A Yuuzhan Vong warrior stood up, his armour the same colour as the planet's unusual plantlife. He shoved the large man's body off the end of his snake like blade with a kick. Jag swung his carbine arround just in time for the Amphistaff to cut the weapon cleanly in two.

As the living blade came back for it's return swing Shanna's yellow lightsaber interposed itself forcing the amphistaff out of the way. The one armed Commando triggered a burst with his Carbine hitting the warrior in the neck and face. Jag fell back just as the Warior began to drop and he pulled out his small pistol. Jag and the Trooper fired a few more times into the warrior while Vance resumed batting Razor bugs out of the air.

Rowan was dead, and too large for anyone else to be spared to haul his large body to the shuttle. The survivors clambered up the ramp to the shuttle. Their lightsaber weilding member was the last aboard, jumping up to the ramp even as the shuttle started to lift. The Trio of shuttles flew off to the west as Turbolaser bolts started to rain down from orbit setting the forest ablaze.

048 


	49. Chapter 49

+++ 

The three shuttles streaked into orbit bound for an older Imperial Destroyer that had been assigned for use in the planet's Quarantine. Additional Medical and triage facilities had been setup aboard while all of her troops were on the planet.

Jag glanced out the forward viewport from one of the jumpseats. For a moment he though he saw the distinctive engine flare of an A-wing Starfighter. Then the white hull of the nearest Destroyer eclipsed that area blocking the view.

+++ 

Anni Capstan rolled her A-wing through a soft turn making sure the Interceptors escorting her stayed nearby. The space around the Destroyer fleet was crawling with Tie fighters, and a lone A-wing even one with an Imperial IFF tag wouldn't be left alone for long. The datapad that the Imperial Officer had dropped into her cockpit had contained the deactivation codes for the explosives planted in her fighter as well as instructions that the Imp officer were to have followed. The last instruction on the list had been to leave her the datapad.

She'd already input the code and the A-wing hadn't exploded yet so they must have been real. After that were rudimentary hyperspace navigational co-ordinates. It was enough to get her back to Gravlex Med just before her life support ran out. She'd played along with the Imperials just long enough for them to get outside of the Fleet's main body.

It had been time enough. With a flick she adjusted the swivel angle of her fighters lasers until they were pointed almost directly aft, then sent power into charging them.

The voice of the Tie pilot flying the other A-wing came over her headset.

"Rebel, I'm giving you five seconds to stop charging your lasers before I shoot out your cockpit."

Anni put the A-wing into a barrel roll and fired lasers. Red beams shot backwards toward the escorting Interceptors, one burst nicking a wing pylon and another blowing out the cockpit. She hauled up out of the roll as the less damaged Tie fired then dodged again as the Imperial A-wing came about and fired at her. All of the shots went wide by barely a meter or two.

The other A-wing pilot's voice came over the Com. "Second Flight to Ardent. Remote destruct device has failed to respond to my commands, please transmit destruct codes."

Pointing her little red speed machine toward the nearest edges of the fleet Anni put full power to engines. Noticing she wasn't accelerating as fast as normal she scrolled through the command screens then rolled her eyes at the results.

"The Imps turned down the maximum burn on the engines because it was too close to redline." More specifically it had been too far [iinto[/i the red but that was a distinction few Rebel pilots cared about. She reset the engines without regard for safety considerations.

"This is Ardent, we've transmitted the destruct codes but nothing's happening. We're tagging her as an unfriendly. Anyone in range take her out."

As soon as her IFF identifier turned red on the Imperial status displays, somewhere between twenty and thirty starfighters turned towards her position. She was only seconds from the edge of the gravity well but seconds were all that the Imperial fighters would need.

+++ 

Commander Wintle watched the sensor screens from the bridge of the Ardent.

When the call from the main bay had come up asking to take the Rebel pilot out for flight testing it hadn't surprised him. Both the Admiral and Colonel Fel had already approved of the idea, the pilot that the Colonel had left in charge of the Ardent's Tie Squadrons when he went down to the surface must have decided to take matters up himself. Now things had taken a turn for the worse. Someone had to have disabled the explosives on the A-wing and unlocked it's command pathways.

The Rebel piloted A-wing was in a race against the roughly two dozen fighters trying to cut it off before it could jump away. Tie Defenders were slightly faster and could overtake it but Interceptors could only hope to get into the way in time. The other A-wing, the one still bearing an Imperial IFF designation, was also starting to slowly fall behind. Before the Rebel could get out of weapons range the Imperial A-wing fired concussion missiles. The Rebel fired her aft facing lasers while rolling sending a spray of bolts back along her flight path. One missile detonated and just before the second could close the distance and impact she spun the fighter out of the way letting the missile streak past, it's path now changing to an arc as it tried to come back on target.

Defenders opened fire with lasers, careful not to accidentally bracket any friendlies. The Rebel stopped firing lasers and the fighter seemed to leap ahead even more, laser bolts just grazed the trailing edges of stabilizer fins. The missile finally caught up again only to be hit by the storm of Laser bolts from the Defenders. The ball explosion momentarily obscured several of the fighters from sensors and by the time it had cleared one of the A-wings wasn't there.

Wintle whirled in place and looked down to the control pits. "Sensors, did you detect a hyperspace entry?"

"Hard to be one hundred percent certain sir. We detected a partial entry."

The com officer spoke up. "Sir, we have a priority line coming in from Superior for you. It's Admiral Dorja."

"I'll take it at the aft station. Meanwhile contact security and find out how this happened."

049


	50. Chapter 50

+++ 

Jag read over the report that had been sent over from Ardent. The Rebel pilot had escaped in an A-wing supposedly with the aid of Kirrek. Apparently the Commander had been found after in his quarters unconscious, both of the Stormtroopers assigned to guard his quarters had been stunned and tied up. The Commander apparently had no recollection of any of the events that were attributed to him. Sure sign of being a sleeper agent. Now the crew needed to find out who his controller was.

Jag sighed and set down the data pad. The strike team had been confined to the ISD Raptor for two days now. Medics had checked everyone over and separated those that had been held prisoner by the Vong. Somewhere aboard the ship were the samples the team had obtained and a handful of the altered civilians that had been captured.

Casualties had been pouring in since their arrival. The ground forces had assaulted the university campus the day before and now the areas previously used to store AT-AT's aboard had been filled with stretchers and bacta tanks. Medics were everywhere.

The Troopers had fought hundreds of the local inhabitants that had been infected or changed by the Vong. Due to the toughness of the coral like growths most troopers had quickly expended their powerpacks forcing some of the fighting into hand to hand until AT-ST's could be freed up. Reports of the ferociousness of the Alien commanders rivalled that which the commando team had seen in person. One such story told of a single Vong Warrior falling upon a column of Stormtroopers and killing nearly twenty of them with an amphistaff and dagger. Someone had eventually resorted to using a thermal detonator.

The Alien version of hydroponic gardens had been found through the campus and samples of everything were being brought up to the Destroyer to be packed for transport back to research facilities in the core regions. No chances were being taken. All containers were intended to prevent breach of quarantine.

Jag's comlink activated. "Colonel Fel please report to forward launch bay, your shuttle will be arriving shortly."

Just earlier today the Medics had begun allowing those that had been properly screened off of the ship. Shanna Vance had already left some hours ago and General Richardson was scheduled to be coming up from the planet later today to go through screening. Major combat operations on the planet were officially over and the High Admiral wanted the leader of his ground forces available if needed. It wasn't exactly mission accomplished but the occupation force being brought in could secure the remainder of the planet. Raptor and two Victory Destroyer Upgrade models were to remain behind while the fleet pulled out.

Jag walked up the ramp of the Lambda shuttle after it had set down and contemplated where they would be headed next. The Ardent was in serious need of repairs as were other ships in the fleet. Only half of the Tie squadrons assigned to the force still remained, and scout craft were still having trouble staying alive long enough to report which systems the Vong had taken.

The face of Quan Rowan came to mind again as it had been when the Vong amphistaff stabbed through him from behind.

He leaned back in the passenger seat and sighed.

"I'm glad I'm a pilot and won't have to see that sort of thing more often in this war."

+++ 

The Luxury Yacht 3000 formerly known as Lady Luck came out of hyperspace deep in the outer rim. The closest well known planet in this part of the galaxy was Gamorr and it was more than a day or two's travel coreward from here. This was nearly as far as ships could go before they encountered the hyperspace disturbance at the edge of the galaxy. Hidden in a nebula nearby was the Rebel starfleet.

"Home sweet home." muttered Octa under her breath as she re-aligned the com system to broadcast the clearance code. Danni stood at the back of the cockpit looking out at the edge of the galaxy.

"This would have made a good spot for an Ex-gal facility."

Kyp glanced back at her. "It's hard enough as it is to keep this place hidden from Imperial patrols. Having a semi-civilian organisation setting up a sensor array nearby would have been enough to get any Ex-Gal teams killed."

"Hypercom signal sent." said Octa. "Now we just sit back and wait."

The wait wasn't a long one. Within five minutes a modified Victory class Star Destroyer reverted to realspace near their position and locked tractor beams on them. The Yacht was dragged into the main hanger bay and once it was secure the Destroyer jumped back into hyperspace. Once they had reverted again the com went active.

"Private Yacht you have been cleared for flight to the Ralroost. If you approach any other capital ship on station you will be fired upon."

With that the com cut off and the tractor beams came back on, moving the Lady Luck back out of the bay and into space.

Kyp brought the ship around to port and headed deeper into the Nebula. The misty reddish clouds obscured vision and made sensor reading difficult. After clearing a cloud bank they could start to make out dark shapes ahead. Most were spread out quite far apart but some nearer ones had the familiar shapes of various ship classes. The large ovoid shape of what could only be a Mon Cal cruiser passed far to Starboard still heavily shrouded by the clouds.

Dead ahead was a boxy triangular shaped ship of a type that Danni didn't recognise. They swept around toward one of the launch bays and entered without hesitation. Kyp set the ship down in an area that had been cleared near the bay entrance. The two Jedi started the ship's Auto shutdown then headed for the landing ramp.

When they reached the bottom of the ramp Kyp suddenly started paying attention to what was in the bay. A full fireteam complete with a partially shielded CSA E-web stood in a semi-circle, weapons levelled at them.

"Durron, didn't expect you to be here."

Kyp glanced to the side and saw Corran Horn standing in the shadows under the ship, lightsaber in hand. The older man was shielding his presence in the force to make detection difficult.

"Horn. I could say the same about you. Did your father-in-law let you off your leash?"

The skin around Corran's eyes tightened slightly but otherwise he didn't respond to the taunt.

"Kre'fey called me in for a mission. I suppose you lost your fighters again somehow and came begging for more."

"Listen Horn, I could sit here and toss insults at you all day but we've got some important information for the fuzball that's in charge."

"Whose the new jedi candidate?" asked Corran, tilting his head in Danni's direction.

"Jedi candidate?!" asked Danni with a start.

"She's more important for the information she knows about our newest problem. Now if you'll excuse us."

With that, Kyp elbowed his way past the guards and headed for a turbolift, Danni and Octa in tow. Octa turned back to Horn and offered him a shrug.

Corran shook his head and turned to one of the guards. "Escort them to make sure the guest doesn't wander off into restricted parts of the ship."

050


	51. Chapter 51

+++ 

Two days had passed since Kyp, Octa and Danni had arrived at the Rebel fleet. Kre'fey had been off of his command ship at the time allowing him time to look over the data the three had brought before an actual meeting could take place.

Most importantly it prevented Durron from simply blustering his way past the Bothan Admiral's guards and interrupting him while working.

The door to the Admiral's office opened and Kre'fay saw Durron enter out of the corner of one eye.

"Greetings Mr. Durron." He said, turning to look at the Human Jedi. "I'm sorry for the delay but sections of the Ralroost needed to be shored up before we go into combat."

"I'll be fine with it as long as you tell me you read our report."

The Bothan tossed a small datapad onto his desk. "I did indeed. It's an interesting read. If it were fiction I think I should have enjoyed it much more." 

Kyp nodded in agreementand asked. "What are we going to do about these Yuuzhan Vong?"

"Do? Mr. Durron there is nothing we _can_ do about them. Oh we can help evacuate civilians loyal to our cause certainly but other than that we leave the Empire to deal with it."

"But you said you were preparing the Ralroost for combat."

"Yes. We're getting ready to launch a full blown offensive against the Empire while they're dealing with the Holonet problems and this new Alien threat. According to Booster, Iblis has already gone on the offensive and has taken the Kathol sector. He'll be pushing up along the Rimma before long. I intend to retake Bothan space where we can rally support."

Kyp sat in silence while he gathered his thoughts. "Calrisian is going to lose his entire operation again. The Vong were already starting to send raids against it when we left."

"That's unfortunate, but we need to strike now while we can. I know from the report that your fighters were too badly beat up to bring them here so I'll offer you a trade. Do a couple of missions for me and I'll give you and Octa a pair of our new XJ X-wings."

"Have these fighters been combat tested?" asked Kyp.

"Not strictly, no, but you'll get to see them in action first. I want you to join an infiltration team sent in to target a starfighter base. You and the team will escape in the best fighters you can find on base while Horn hits the place with the new fighters."

"And after this mission?"

"You can go wherever you like with the new fighters, though I hope you'll stay long enough to help us in the assault on Bothan Space. There's bound to be a big Imperial fleet presence."

Kyp thought it over and then agreed. "What infiltration team will it be?"

"Wraith Squadron. Lorran is a veteran and can handle these things. The team will be restricted to Humans only for the mission for obvious reasons. This does leave them a few members short however. We've filled one spot using a starship thief that Booster recommended but we need one more at the very least. We considered Horn but his face is on too many wanted posters."

"And if he screwed up one mind trick everything would be over."

"Yes."

"How long until this mission goes off?"

Kre'fey glanced at a chronometer. "Face's team leaves today, and the strike happens five days from now. They're in the forward Landing bay, look for the Lambda shuttle."

+++ 

Admiral Dorja and High Admiral Burgan strode across the command walkway aboard the Super Star Destroyer Superior.

"I'm surrounded by children and young people," said Dorja. "Lately I haven't been seeing officers half my age. Oh they're good people but it used to be that it would take decades to get to the command walkway of a Star Destroyer."

"I know what you mean." Agreed Burgan. "I haven't even turned fifty yet and was hoping to reach Command of a Star Destroyer at this age when I was in the academy."

Dorja nodded. "I've followed some of your career and you've earned the rank you have. The first officer of my command ship is under thirty five and I'm about to make him Captain."

"From what you've said your first officer seems to have a solid grasp of Destroyer tactics."

"He'll be fine, I'm just worried that the new officers are too young, they may not have enough experience. Of course this is coming from me. I'm the oldest serving officer still in the fleet."

Burgan smiled. "I'll let you in on something Admiral. One of the first things I did when I reached flag officer was read through your mission reports."

The older man turned slightly more white. "Emperors black bones those were all classified."

"They still are. You went through some things people would never even dream

of. Fighting Rebels, exploring the Unknown regions, encountering mind numbing new terrors. Few officers are going to match you for experience no matter their age."

The older man glanced over. "I'm getting the feeling that you would like my 'experience' for some sort of upcoming mission."

"Quite right. A recon in force out to the Corporate sector. We're still getting some intermittent Holocom communications with them but it's starting to become less frequent."

Dorja frowned. "The Corporate Sector Authority has never much been one for letting outsiders pry into their business. Even the Empire."

"We don't know what they might pull without the fleet watching. They may even try to annex some surrounding sectors. I want you to build up a small Destroyer force with Interdictor support and push down the Hydian Way. Establish checkpoints and hypercom buoys along that lane and we'll get additional support out to them eventually. Also, do what you can to speed civilian evacuations."

"I'd like to check the Dal Porath mining colony at some point. I left some assets there that could be of use."

"Do what you feel is appropriate. I'll maintain the fleet at Agamar as our main line. Once you get back from the Corporate Sector I'll have a new Super Star Destroyer ready for you."

"Sir?"

"It's not official yet but I'm promoting you to High Admiral to fill my vacancy. I'm to be made a Grand Admiral in command of a new Oversector. The Oversector is to stretch from Ord Canfre to Junction."

"What about Dathomir?"

"I'll see if I can get Zsinj out of retirement to shore up that flank."

051


	52. Chapter 52

+++ 

The aging pilot Corran Horn watched the timer on the starfighter's console count down. He sat in the pilots seat of one of the most advanced starfighters ever designed by the Rebel Alliance; The XJA1 X-wing. He would have preferred to be sitting in the old T-65 that he'd stolen from CorSec when he left Corellia decades ago but Kre'fey was adamant that they get combat data on the new fighters.

According to Intel the base they were supposed to be hitting was used by the Empire as a Tie Craft re-supply base. Destroyers that had lost too many starfighters and would be at risk for a return trip to the more civilised areas often stopped here. One ship that had stopped here had unknowingly been carrying a sensor probe attached to it's outer hull. Twenty four hours before their attack an Intel team was supposed to have gone into the base to help clear the way. As it was the numbers of fighters known to be present were sketchy.

The Rebel force came out of hyperspace still in formation. Peshk Vri'syk and his squadron were off to the right while Asyr Sei'lar had a squadron to the left. Taldira a Twi'lek warrior still fierce looking despite his age lead a fourth squadron slightly behind Corran's, ready to pounce on any stragglers that made it past the other three squads.

Behind the mixed fighter screen of new XJ's and older upgraded vehicles came the Fastblast, an old pirate ship which was already launching Tie Clutch craft. Most of the Fastblast's fighters were Clutch Mk.II's, closer in speed to the Tie Interceptor than it's predecessor.

They cruised in toward the flat disc of asteroids that made up the topography of the system. Now it was time to just wait. Within minutes they would be within sensor range of the Imperial base. There was nothing to obscure sensors and no point in jamming. They just had to face down the Imps as they came out.

+++ 

Unknown to the insertion team before their arrival there wasn't just one base in the target system. Three bases were built inside the asteroids that filled the system, and all of them were hooked up to a system wide sensor net. Within seconds of their arrival the Rebel force had been detected.

Alarms blared over the base com systems. "All pilots to your stations!" Shouted the watch officer. "Repeat, all pilots to your stations! Inbound Rebel force detected. Strength at four squadrons and climbing."

That was all that the insertion team needed to hear. Already clad in Tie pilot's flight suits the team Captain waved to the other members in the launch bay. 

"Do it." 

Around the hanger stun grenades went off, knocking out the scrambling deck crews and taking down the wave of pilots rushing out from the lounge. Not all of the hanger techs were unconscious though. A grizzled looking man that had to have come from a high gravity world reached a control bank and threw a switch while another pulled out a comlink and started yelling for Stormtroopers. A flurry of blaster bolts struck both men, hurling them into adjacent walls to rebound to the floor.

The Captain turned to the nearest Tie craft, a Defender, one of several they had planned to steal, then swore. The tech had activated locking clamps securing all of the fighters. It was a safe bet that nothing short of an override command from the station's control center was going to get them out. Garik 'Face' Loran pulled his helmet off. "Kell! Castin! They've locked down the fighters. Find a way to get us out of here while the rest of us cover you."

The tall explosives expert and the slicer from Coruscant both took off in opposite directions, one to a console the other to the fighters. Other members of the team tossed pilot helmets toward the fighters and unslung whatever weapons they carried before moving to cover the doors.

Myn Donnos their sniper climbed up on top of a starfighter near the entrance to the bay, attaching sections to a weapon that was disguised as an E-11. Alek 'Def' Valen, the starship thief, snapped two attachments onto his own custom weapon turning the carbine look-alike into a small repeater rifle. Lastly, Kyp Durron pulled out a lightsaber that had been disguised to look like an Imperial rank cylinder. The Jedi had been convinced by Kre'fey to take part in the mission in exchange for a new XJ starfighter. Face shook his head at the insanity of that as he took cover.

With a force push Kyp cleared the hallway of the downed Imperial pilots, not wanting to give incoming troopers any cover. The base Stormtroopers wasted little time in getting to the bay. A trooper skidded around the corner firing on automatic. Myn's shot took him in the neck while the shots Kyp's deflected sprayed back down the corridor to strike two more troopers that charged in.

Some troopers took up firing stances at the corner while others threw fragmentation grenades. A quick force push hurled the grenades back down the hallway to explode just short of the Imperial foot soldiers. Sparks of thermite began to illuminate one of the doors that the slicer had locked while another spot appeared in the ceiling.

"Fall back!" Shouted Face over the noise as he moved behind some diagnostics consoles. Def fell back and jumped over a cargo crate just as the second door was blown open. Kyp's lightsaber was a blur, deflecting fire from one group of troopers into the other. Everyone tried their best to put as much fire towards the Imperials as they could to help out the now struggling Jedi.

The sound of explosive bolts echoed through the hanger as the docking clamps let go of the Tie's. Before Castin could yell to the others that the fighters were clear, more troopers blew a hole through the ceiling and began fast roping to the floor. Everyone ran for the cover of the fighters, Kyp continuing to dodge back and forth while drawing fire. Myn's sniper bolts burned bright and Def's weapon never stopped it's automatic fire.

Kell had been working on trying to release the clamps manually when the computers had released them. Not bothering to check on the others he hauled himself up wing pylon and into the cockpit. The ship security slicer program on his datapad had the fighter online in seconds. Throwing on the black helmet, he lifted the Defender on repulsors and turned the guns towards the increasing number of Stortroopers in the hanger.

"Bye, bye little Stormies." Kell walked single fire laser cannon shots across the back of the bay then fired the Ion cannons into the hole in the ceiling. A handful of Stormtroopers fell from the hole grasping at rope as their rappelling equipment shorted out. The others reached their fighters while Kyp continued to cover the scattered fire coming from the hallways.

Without a second thought Kell lowered his fighter down in front of the door blocking the laser fire with his shields. With a force assisted leap the Jedi was on top of, and then climbing into, the last fighter they had prepared.

The Missile warning indicator on his Kell's HUD went off as a Stormtrooper with a shoulder fired Concussion missile launcher appeared. He yanked the controls up and away forcing the trooper to fire before he had a full lock. The missile overshot and streaked out of the bay.

"Kell, let's move!"

"Gotcha Wraith One." He answered, kicking the throttle to full and streaking out of the bay before any more soldiers could arrive.

052


	53. Chapter 53

+++ 

Corran watched his sensor display as groups of Imperial starfighters launched from not one, but two bases. One was closer to their position by several minutes which might give them time to deal with one wave but not both. The closer formation had several Assault Gunboats as well as Tie Avengers and even some Tie Lancers. Half the numbers of both groups were made up of Tie Interceptors.

The insertion team was supposed to steal or take out of action any Tie Defenders present. So far none of the dangerous craft had shown up but that could change. Already, more advanced Imperial craft were showing themselves. Two Missile Boats and an escort of some newer Tie craft were starting to out pace the slower Interceptors from the farther group.

"Heads up everyone. We're going to punch through the slower group and try to force them to turn in our wake. After that the elites will hit the Missile boats and new Tie craft, everyone else pound those squints to clear us a path back out of here. If the team uses the confusion to escape so much the better."

"This is the Fastblast. We'll cover your escape vector, we just had some Quadlasers installed."

Back toward the converted freighter the squadron of Tie Clutch craft broke off escort of thier carrier and headed after the rebel fighter wing.

The Imperials and Rebels closed to weapons range, the Tie Interceptors hanging back behind the shielded Gunboats and Avengers. Twenty years of fighting off dedicated groups like the rebellion had taught the Empire how wastefull sending unshielded fighters into a head-to-head fight was. Most interception tactics used shielded fighters that could keep pace with the Tie Interceptors speed advantage. Perhaps the insertion team had disabled the Defenders at the very least.

"Concussion Missiles for the first group, save torps for the heavy fighters and base."

The warning tone of a missile lock attempt filled Corran's cockpit. He jinked the new X-wing around spoiling the lock and then switched to Concussion missiles. Corran's R2 unit Whistler made a beeping noise that went solid as the lock-on brackets went red. Pulling the trigger, a single missile went streaking out towards one of the Gunboats. Most of the other X-wings had fired concussion missiles as well and some thirty of them converged on the two leading squadrons of Imperial craft.

Shields failed on fighters from both sides and most of the Tie Avengers winked out along with a couple of older X-wings that had been upgraded. The newer XJ's that had been targeted had used the new forward firing anti-missile flares. It was an expensive and still experimental system but it needed combat data as much as the new fighters did.

The two starfighter groups entered laser range then crashed through each other. Corran triggered a quad burst into a gunboat that had lost shields and watched the cockpit explode back out into space. Switching to dual fire he held down the trigger firing into groups of Interceptors at they passed. As planned none of the X-wings turned to dogfight with the Interceptors forcing the Imperials to split their attention. Just seconds behind the X-wings came Taldira's Deathseeds and the Tie Clutch squadron that was catching up.

Three Tie squadrons continued on toward the remaining Rebels while the remainder turned in persuit.

Corran keyed the com. "What kind of Tie craft are we looking at guarding those missile boats?"

Sei'lar responded first. "Looks like something based off the Avenger, it's... They're Tri-Avengers!"

Corran shook his head. "They're not supposed to be deployed for another year. And even if they were, they should have been in the same base as the Tie Defenders."

Out ahead the two missile boats accelerated for a few seconds using their booster and then fired their heavy missile packs. Four groups of smaller missiles came streaking out.

"Cluster Missiles! Shoot down as many as you can with lasers and hold off using the flares until the last second." A cloud of red laser fire filled the space ahead of the Rebels and the ball explosions associated with concussion missiles appeared when the laser fire burned through the missile armour coating. The Missile Boats fired another spread of missiles as the last of the first wave were shot down, then they dropped back to cover the Tri-Avengers.

The tie craft added their own missile fire to the volley.

This time the Rebels went straight to using flares on the incoming missiles. Three X-wings instantly exploded, all hit by multiple missiles. As they reached laser range the new Ties all changed course and accelerated in diffrient directions.

"Break by pairs. First and second flight hit those Missile Boats."

The Imperials were trying to seperate the Rebels, reducing their strength and buying time for support to arrive. As his flight closed on one of the fast moving Missile Boats he glanced at the sensors. They had less than five minutes until the ties from the scond base arrived and seconds until the survivors of the first wave caught up. Knowing they didn't have time now Corran switched over to his Torpedo launcher. It took slightly longer to get a lock than with the newer concussion missiles but the reticle still turned red.

The blue tailed projectile shot out as the other fighters in his flight opened fire with lasers. The shots struck at the same time droping the shields of one fighter. A quad burst burned through it's wing before the pilot could activate the heavy engine booster. Then the heavily pockmarked fighter accelerated away from the fight. The other missile boat dropped in behind first flight and fired Cluster missiles again.

"BreakBreak!"

All eight of Corran's remaing aft flares fired as he and the others of his flight rolled out, ball explosions appearing just tens of meters behind his fighter. The Missile Boat stayed with him attempting a torpedo lock next. Just as with his own weapons the torpedoes took longer to lock giving him enough time to swing around for a head to head with Two Flight. Opening himself fully to the force, something he didn't like to do in combat, he waited for the tell-tale signs that the Boat pilot was going to fire.

His hand jinked the controls causing a pair of torpedoes to go shooting past him rather than into the tail of his fighter. Four quad linked shots took the Imperial fighter in the bow at the same time, overpowering the shields and burning out it's cockpit. The Torps which had started to loop around to re-aquire their target, exploded, hit by laser fire from One flight.

The Interceptors and a few Tie Avengers from the first wave started to arrive at the dogfight between the X-wings and Tri-Avengers.

"Let's get those Ties before the Second wave get's here."

053


	54. Chapter 54

+++ 

Six Tie Defenders streaked out of the tunnel that lead to the asteroid base hangers. The last one slowed then turned to fire a torpedo back into the cave mouth.

Face keyed the com. "Hurry up Kell, let's blow this thing and go home."

"Right with you One. Detonation in thirty seconds... Mark."

The half squadron of tie craft sped around the outer surface of the Asteroid until they were above the out system facing side. Below them previously concealed Turbolasers began to appear and take aim.

"We got Turbo's poppin' up!" Shouted Def.

"Go evasive." Calmly replied Face. He pulled away from the other fighters in the group so that there was room to jink and put laser power into the engines.

Bright green Turbolaser bolts flashed out from the base, some passing close enough to momentarily blind his sensors. Kell's fighter, farther back than the others took a nearly direct hit. The Defender spun away trailing a thin debris cloud.

"Five you ok?"

"Fine lead, the shields on these things are pretty tough. Lost half my cannon and some of my repulsors though."

A flash from behind them forestalled any further comments. A fireball erupted from the base entrance and the Turbolasers stopped firing. A large section on the 'North' side of the asteroid caved in on itself before another explosion hurled debris into space.

"That's one base down. Let's find Red group."

"Already got them on sensors Lead." Said Myn "Looks like they're tangling with about ten squadrons of Ties."

"Castin plot us a microjump to their location."

"Got one ready sir," said the human from Coruscant. He was sounding more cheerful than normal, almost as if holding in laughter at some inside joke.

"Start countdown. Ten seconds to jump, mark."

+++ 

Corran and his wingman finally managed to punch through the shields on one of the Tri-Avengers. The Tie pilot tried to roll out but a dual fire burst caught one of it's Ion engines. That side of the fighter exploded sending the main body spiralling off into deep space. On the other side of the engagement the two Bothan aces took out another of the new Ties when Vri'syk lead it straight into Sei'lar's gun sights. Meanwhile the less experienced X-wing pilots were busy holding the Tie Interceptors at bay long enough for the older pilots to tackle the Brights.

Corran glanced down at the dwindling timer Whistler had posted on his display indicating the time until the second Imperial Tie wave arrived.

Thirty seconds.

"Everyone get ready for the next wave of Ties. Stay alert."

Farther back toward their hyperspace exit the Fastblast herded the cloud of Interceptors duelling with it's escort toward the main fight. The ship's Captain seemed to think he was invulnerable to starfighter attacks with Quad lasers augmenting the four Turbolasers. Either way, the Ties refused to willingly go near the freighter which was starting to pick up speed.

"Hyperspace entry detected." reported the Fastblast's sensor operator. "A half squadron of Tie Defenders just reverted near the back of the second Tie wing."

+++ 

"Castin you idiot." Muttered Face under his breath as he realised where they were.

"This is perfect!" shouted Kyp. "Wraiths follow me in I've done this before."

Not waiting to see if the others followed suit the Jedi kicked his Defender's engines to full power and fast began overtaking the other Ties. Castin and Def followed soon after.

Face swore.

"Kell, Myn, lets bring up the rear and cover them."

As Kyp was about to pass a formation of Interceptors he changed course and fired two torpedoes into their midst. The flight leader sensing the weapons lock started to turn but was too late. The double explosion tore through half the squadron sending the survivors banking off in different directions.

The three Defenders with Kyp still in the lead punched through another Tie squadron from behind, firing lasers and Ion cannons.

A third Interceptor squadron broke formations and came back around to target the Defenders. The Jedi slowed enough for Face's group to catch up and all six fighters went head-to-head with the Imperial squadron. With the heavy shields in place the Interceptors didn't stand a chance. Most, realising this, juked and dived until they passed the traitor starfighters then tried for deflection shots.

Up ahead a squadron of X-wings had extricated themselves from combat long enough to go head-to-head with the shielded Tie Lancers. Unlike other tie craft Lancers weren't that maneuverable, instead relying more on their shields. Most of them survived the pass as the XJ's simply dodged past them to shoot at the Interceptors they were forming a shield wall for. The remaining Interceptors went evasive as the X-wings and the Defenders traded targets, the XJ's going after the wounded Tie squadrons as the Wraiths pounded the weakened Lancers. It didn't take long for the Imperial Commander to realise that things were not going to get better any time soon.

The Imperial squadrons started to turn and run. The handful of advanced starfighters remaining held on long enough for the Interceptors to begin their withdrawal then joined them.

"We've got them on the run!" shouted Kyp over the com. "Lets finish them off."

"Belay that." Replied Corran then switched to all ship frequency. "All Alliance personnel pull back to the hyperspace entry point. Fastblast begin recovery of fighters."

Kyp contacted Corran on a private channel. "Corran we can beat these Imps. We can take out all of the remaining bases in this system."

"What about the losses Kyp? We set this mission up to tackle one base, perhaps two at the most. We're not wasting any more trained people on something with no strategic value to our upcoming fight."

"You're making a mistake leaving them behind."

"Take it up with Kre'fey when we get back." With that the Corellian set his com back to fleet.

"This is the Fastblast transmitting co-ordinates for first jump. Topside docking hatches have been cleared for Wraith five and Red twelve. We'll jump once they're secure."

Through the Force Corran could feel Kyp simmering in anger. The younger man was going to become dangerous if he let any more of the darkside in.

054


	55. Chapter 55

+++ 

The heavy transport 'Deep Darkness' reverted to hyperspace near the transition point to the Rebel Fleet. When the returning X-wing units exited the cargo bay however they saw that the Rebel fleet had emerged from the Nebula. Shuttles and repair vehicles flew from ship to ship, moving supplies and preparing to head out. Though only around twenty of the ships in the fleet had originally been built for combat, half of those were light cruisers or small Destroyers.

Corran keyed his com unit. "Horn to Defiance, where do you want my squadrons landing?"

There was a moment of com silence and then Kre'fey came on the line. "Horn, we've cleared room on the Defiance for you. I want you aboard ASAP. After that split up your X-wing pilots into three groups. Try to create a balance of experience between the groups. I'll be hosting a major briefing in two hours, I expect you to be there."

"Acknowledged," replied Corran, then he changed frequencies. "Ok Red group, head in to the Defiance and land. Fastblast crew thanks for the help. If you hang around I'm getting the feeling you might be able to secure another few operations."

"Thanks Horn. We'll wait around and see what's happening. We only lost a couple of fighters on that raid."

+++ 

Kre'fey look around the room at the assembled ship captains and veteran squadron leaders.

"We find ourselves here yet again. Throwing ourselves against the Empire in a bid for survival. The last time we tried this we lost most of our fleet. Five Vic's... an Impstar... and nearly thirty Katana Dreadnaughts, not counting our corvette losses."

Many of those gathered nodded grimly.

"This time we have to hope the skill of the survivors will be enough. We have surprise on our side, with the majority of hypercom communications through the rim damaged we stand a chance. If we can strike hard and fast enough the local populations previously held under the Empire's boot will be enough to keep us afloat. We have allies looking into getting us more ships, but troops and facilities we'll find in Bothan space.

"We'll be splitting the fleet up into three groups which will make their way to Bothan space. Group Three will form up around the MC-90 Defiance, Group Two around the Galactic Voyager, and Group One around the Ralroost. Each will be accompanied by one of our three remaining Victory Destroyers and a mix of support craft. All will be joined by additional regional Rebel cells while on route."

As the Bothan Admiral talked each of the planets mentioned started to light up in turn.

"The fleets will start from near Rylolth, Kowak and Gamorr. If you think you can take out Imperial forces on your way to Bothan Space without serious casualties, attempt to do so. Remember though, we need enough forces left at the end of our journey to deal with the Imperial occupation force.

"We hope that the Smugglers Alliance will be able to send additional support perhaps even their Carrier but we don't know for sure. Iblis is moving and will be crushed by Imperial Response fleets if we don't begin now. We can only hope that our fight will give our allies time."

Someone in the back waved a hand in the air. "What about the Hutts?"

"We don't know precisely what the Hutts are doing at the moment but some of our suppliers have been able to acquire weapons through them recently. Both of our MC-90's have a full combat load of Torpedoes now, along with enough for some of our fighter squadrons. Either way the Hutts won't have any major impact on events in our area for some time."

Corran raised a hand. "Starfighter availability? We're bound to take losses forcing out the occupation force."

"We've planned accordingly. We have supplies of starfighter grade shield generators suitable for Tie Starfighters. We should have enough time to refit captured vehicles before any major counter attack arrives."

Horn nodded but still seemed slightly uncertain.

"Also, our techs have informed me that they can now convert any standard SFS production line to produce the new XJ X-wing starfighter. Obviously we won't be able to build them as fast as Ties but it's something."

Kre'fey noticed Kyp standing near the back of the room. "Jedi Durron, will you be accompanying the fleet?"

Kyp folded his arms. "You're going to need all the help you can get. Put me in one of these new X-wings like you promised and we have a deal."

"Done. I'd like yourself, Octa Ramis and Colonel Horn to all station yourselves aboard the Ralroost. Everyone, we jump in five hours. Finish what preparations you need to and get to your ships."

055


	56. Chapter 56

+++ 

Jag leaned back in his chair in the Ardent's briefing lounge. One of the new pilots they'd brought aboard at Agamar had setup a holo projector to play a holo docu-drama. 'The Death Star of Yavin' wasn't exactly the newest material ever seen but the pilots needed a break from the combat and simulator runs.

The main fleet under Admiral Burgan returned to Agamar to re-supply before dispersing to create a skirmishing line. Ships and supplies were starting to trickle in from the Core regions already but it would still be another couple of weeks before a Sovereign class fleet arrived. Once the Super laser bearing Super Star Destroyer and it's support fleet arrived in the area Jag doubted even these Vong would stand a chance.

Admiral Dorja had come back aboard at Agamar having been promoted. The Ardent was headed to a staging point on the Hydian Way along with the Victory Destroyer and two Interdictors that had joined them. Upon arrival they were to meet with a mobile refit platform and a rapid response fleet. The plan was to leave an Interdictor on the Hyperspace lane at the border between the Mid and Outer rim then continue. Another would be left on the lane closest to Dathomir and the last Interdictor would accompany the remaining fleet.

While in transit, and when they arrived and began repairs, Jag and the remaining original pilots had to train the replacements. Under normal conditions this wouldn't have been a problem. Any pilot that graduated from training had to have a minimum level of proficiency. Unfortunately the tactics needed for fighting the Vong tended to vary substantially from those taught to new pilots. The new people would have been quite capable fighting Rebels or Pirates... but not the Vong.

Jag shook his head and paged through the inventory on his datapad again. The refit platform was supposed to be supplying them with starfighters for the new pilots when they arrived. The Admiral had been clear that he wanted to get as many advanced craft aboard as possible but few were available. There were enough parts waiting for them to rebuild the Gauntlet squadron as well as the remains of the Tie Avenger unit. A full squadron of new Starwing Assault Gunboats were going to be transferred to the fleet, but other than a few Tie Hunters and Bombers everything else were Interceptors. Older models Interceptors at that.

Jag looked up in time to catch Tarkin starting his assault on the Rebel Death Star at Yavin. Older ships like Victory Destroyers and Dreadnaughts escorted a wedge formation of newer Imperial class Destroyers. The Imperial fleet fought their way to the docking stations and landing bays in the equatorial trench, the entire time taking heavy Turbolaser fire.

Crack Stormtrooper teams blasted their way through the Rebel skeleton crew that manned the station, some rebels using suicide tactics to slow them down. The badly damaged Devastator docked before long and Tarkin himself along with Darth Vader were soon aboard. The two Imperial figureheads and a small groups of Imperial Guard reached the station's command center. General Jan Dodonna directed a last message to the remaining Rebel squadrons stationed on the nearby moon. They had to destroy the station by firing into it's reactor exhaust ports.

An old grey haired Jedi of the Old Republic faced off against Vader giving the Rebel General time to give his last orders. "We meet again Obi-wan the last time we saw each other [iyou[/i were the teacher, now I am the master."

"Only a master of evil Darth. It's not too late, renounce the Emperor."

The Dark Lord pointed his red lightsaber at the older man.

"You would see the Empire brought to it's knees old man? Civilization would crumble and the legions of Alien races would throw down humans to be trampled underfoot. No, that I will not allow to happen."

The two fought, lightsaber's hissing and cracking as they struck, but Vader was too powerful for the old man to beat. Finally Kenobi's lightsaber was knocked out of his hand.

"If you strike me down I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

Vader hesitated and in that moment the old Jedi pulled his lightsaber back to his hand with a flick. But Vader was faster, before the other lightsaber could activate the red energy blade sliced clean through Kenobi. Suddenly the clothing the old man had worn was empty and the rags dropped to the floor.

Before the Imperial Guards could move in Dodonna shot himself in the head.

Officers and more troopers rushed into the room and began manning stations. Tarkin moved to the main display and activated the view screen.

"Find out where that last transmission went."

Vader approached. "This day has seen the end of Kenobi, it may very well see the end of the Rebellion as well."

"You could be right," agreed the Grand Moff. "If the Rebel base is nearby we could finish them off with one swift stroke."

The next few scenes that followed concerned bringing more Imperial troops aboard and manning the stations many guns. The Tie squadrons consisting of many early model craft were badly depleted from the attack on the station.

"Sir, we have them." Reported one of the officers. "Fleet elements have detected Rebel starfighters launching from the fourth moon."

Tarkin found the operations officer. "The asteroid processor that the Rebels turned into a weapon, can we use it?"

"Yes sir. We'll need line of sight though."

"Get us underway."

The main display changed to show where the moon was hidden behind the gas giant Yavin.

"Orbiting the planet at maximum velocity. The Rebel base on the fourth moon will be in range in... fifteen minutes."

"Rebel starfighters approaching, some of them are X-wing class."

Vader stepped closer to Tarkin for a moment. "With all of our cruisers damaged we'll have to engage them ship to ship."

The Dark Lord stormed from the command center and towards the landing bays. 

Jag picked up some of the small specialty foods that were being passed by and put his datapad away to watch the rest of the holo vid.

056


	57. Chapter 57

+++ 

A few techs and even a pair of Stormtroopers that had been nearby looked in through the open doors to the briefing room to watch the climactic starfighter battle on the holodisplay.

The Rebel X-wing and Y-wing starfighters approached the Death Star.

"Lock S-foils to attack position," commed the squadrom leader. "Accelerate to attack speed."

The rebel starfighters closed to the surface and began to attack the few Turbolasers that had already been manned by Imperial crews.

Deep in the command center an aid rushed over to Tarkin. "Sir, the Rebel fighters, they're so small that they're evading the turbolasers!"

"Lord Vader will handle the threat posed by the Rebel fighters." He looked over the officer at the wepons console. "Time?"

"The Rebel base will be in range in ten minutes."

The scene changed to show Tie starfighters screaming out from the docking bays where the Imperial fleet had landed. In the lead was Darth Vader's Tie Advanced.

Some of the Rebel fighters turned and attacked the Tie craft as they came in while a flight of Y-wings dove down towards one of the surface trenches. Vader, seeing where they were headed ignored the other fighters and dived down into the trench after them. Up above the Rebel Ace pilots battled the tie fighter cloud.

"Careful if you get one on your tail."

"I can't shake him!"

A pair of ties shot down one of the X-wings but before they could move on to another target the Rebel Ace pilot Biggs Darklighter blasted both of them. The famous actor Tetran Cowal gave an evil looking grin as he blased another tie out of space.

"Cover me Porkins"

"Right with you red Three."

The two fighters strafed another group of surface batteries just as gunnery crews were starting to man them.

The Y-wings began to close with their target.

"The exhaust port is marked and locked in."

Imperial gunnery crews had already mannaged to take control of the turbolaser turrets in the area and they turned the heavy guns on the starfighters.

"Switch all power to front deflector screens. Repeat switch all power to _front_ deflector screens."

"How many guns do you think Gold Five?"

"I'd say around twenty guns, some on the surface, some on the towers."

Back in the command center the count down continued. "The Rebel base will be in firing range in five minutes."

"Switch to- targeting computer." said Gold leader.

"Computer's locked, getting a signal."

The bright green turbolaser bolts stopped flashing.

"The guns they've stopped."

"Stabilize your rear deflectors, watch for enemy fighters."

Gold leader nervously looked over his shoulder. "They're coming in... three marks at two ten!"

"I'll take them myself," instructed Lord Vader to his wingmen. "Cover me."

"Yes sir."

A Y-wing starfighter appeared in the heads up display and black gloves closed around the trigger.

One of the Rebel fighters exploded immediately in the way only a holodrama could cause.

"It's no good I can't manuver!" argued Gold leader.

"Stay on target."

"They're too close!"

"Stay on target."

Gold leader began to panic. "Loosen up!"

Then his fighter exploded.

"Gold five to Red leader, lost Tyre, lost Toch."

The main viewer showed to the moon of Yavin four starting to near the horizon. "Rebel base three minutes and closing."

"We've alanysed their attack sir and there is a danger. Shall I have a ship standing by?"

"Evacuate?" Scoffed Tarkin. "After what we've spent to take this station? I think you over estimate their chances."

"Rebel gunship detected headed toward the tie fighter engagement."

The scene went back to the Rebels.

"Ok red boys listen up, I'll lead my group in, Red three you take your group and hold up here."

"We'll keep an eye out for any fighters headed towards you." Responded Biggs.

"This is it." Shouted Red leader.

Just as with the Y-wings they suffered through several seconds of Turbolaser fire at first.

"Keep an eye open for those fighters."

"There's too much interferance. Red three can you see them from where you are?"

"No sign of any- wait they're coing in at point three five."

"I see them."

Vader's Tie came flashing in towards the rebel attack group.

"I'm in range. Target coming up... Just hold them off for a few seconds."

"Close up formation," directed Vader to his wingmen.

"Almost there." Sweat beaded on red leader's face.

One of the X-wings exploded under the Dark Lord's guns.

"I'm a little loose they're right behind me."

"Almost..._ there_."

"I can't hold them!" Laser fire burned through the back of the Rebel's cockpit.

"Yeeargh!"

Red leader kept his attention focused until the targeting computer gave out a

'Beep!Beep!Beep!' noise.

"Hits away!"

the X-wing pilot pulled up as his Torpedoes detonated.

"It's a hit?!" Asked Biggs over the com.

"Negative. Negative, didn't go in. Just impacted on the surface."

"Red leader you've picked up a tail."

"Get set up for your attack run, I'll try to pull him away."

Before long Red leader crashed to the station surface in a ball of flame.

"We're going in full throttle, hopefully we'll be able to pull out in time."

"This is Narra, most of the other tie fighters are either downed or retreated. I'll hang back and cover you red flight."

"The rest of us will stay back far enough to give you time Biggs," copied the heavy set man.

All of the fighters shook from teh Tubolaser barrage.

Wedge, the youngest pilot called in. "My scope shows the tower but I can't see the exhaust port. Be sure the computer can hit it."

"Here comes the fighters. I-I can't shake them boys."

The older man's fighter exploded under Lord Vader's guns.

Wedge was the next one to take fire. "I'm hit, I can't stay with you!

"Get clear Wedge, you can't cover me with a busted engine," replied Cowal's character.

"Sorry!"

Vader called to his wingmen before they could break off. "Let him go, I have the leader."

The dramatic music picked up in pace as the Rebels were reduced to just the last two fighters.

"Biggs they're coming in a lot faster this time, I can't hold them back."

"Hang in back there buddy."

"Wait! I think I can hold them for- no!"

Jek Porkin's X-wing blew up.

"Rebel base in range." Said the nameless officer.

Tarkin kept his gaze steady on the display screen "You may fire when ready."

"Commence primary ignition."

Vader closed in of the last fighter as Biggs weaved back and forth to make him a harder target. Finally a target lock sounded. "I have you now."

"Sir! Rebel gunship!" Yelled one of the other Tie pilots.

"What?!" Yelled Vader.

A laser bolt struck one of the other ties and the Dark Lord was forced to pull out of the trench to avoid the rest of the fire. A YT-1300 flew in from the direction of the system's star, Lasers flashing from a pair of Quad turrets.

"You're all clear kid now let's blow this thing and go home."

Darklighter got a target lock and fired torpedoes. Both entered the station's exhaust port and half of the people gathered in the briefing room inhaled.

The Rebel fighters fled from the station as fast as they could.

The scene went to Vader, looking at the exhaust port and a voice seemed to filter into his head. A voice that could only be the Emperor himself.

The words were indistinct and couldn't be made out but Vader understood them. He reached out a hand toward the opening in the station and began to close his hand as he was known to do when killing Navy officers that had failed not only himself by the Empire in general.

There was a small flash from the port opening and then a giant flame was pouring out into space. Vader turned his fighter away and fled to a safe distance. More and larger explosions began to throw debris out of a rapidly widening hole in the north side of the Death Star. One especially large explosion sent a visable shockwave traveling out from the hole through the Station's outer hull and armour.

A fireball poured out of one of the superlaser emitters as the green beams started to coalesce. The Lasers flashed to full brightness for only a moment and then went out. A portion of the beam hit the surface of Yavin four causing an explosion, but nothing like one necessary to destroy a planet.

Flame and melted durasteel continued to stream into space from the huge hole in the station for several minutes before fading away.

In the station command center Tarkin picked himself up off the floor. "Perhaps we didn't _quite_ overestimate their chances."

An aid was soon at the Grand Moff's side. "Are you injured sir?"

"Not badly, no. Recall some stormtroopers and send them down to secure the planet. Send our least damaged ships to escort them."

Vader watched the Rebels flee.

Darklighter broadcast on a wideband to be sure Vader heard him. "I'll get you next time Vader! The next time we meet things will be diffrient!"

057

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Do remember that this is Imperial propaganda. ; ) 


	58. Chapter 58

+++ 

"This is Captain Nalgol aboard the Tyrannic to all Imperial forces in the system. Begin withdrawl and regroup at Bothawui. Repeat, pull back to Bothawui."

A pair of Mark two Imperial class Star Destroyers began to turn away from the fighting near Kothlis. A Rebel fleet had been pushing in towards the planet for nearly a full day. A Victory Destroyer Upgrade had already been lost when a large number of uglies had cut off the ship from support. The Imperial fleet might have been able to crack the tight formation of Rebel capital ships if it wasn't for the blasted fighters.

As the fleet prepared to jump the surviving tie craft swarmed aboard. Less than half of the Tie squadrons that had been defending the system at the start of the day survived. Shielded vehicles like Assault Gunboats and Skiprays had become priority targets for the Rebels. The Interceptor pilots were good, but few had seen combat in the past two years.

"Fleet transitioning to hyperspace."

The stars in the forward viewports elongated into the swirling maelstrom that was hyperspace. Nalgol had to figure out how he would explain this defeat to his superior.

+++ 

Tyrannic reverted to realspace at the edges of the Bothan home system.

"Com, put us in contact with the fleet command base. Inform them that Kothlis has been taken by Rebel forces."

"Aye sir."

They didn't have to wait long for a response. "Sir, Admiral Vanton on the com."

"Put it through to the forward station."

The hologram flickered then resolved itself into the balding head of Admiral Vanton. The older man started in without preamble.

"Report Captain."

"A Rebel force has completely overwhelmed the garrison at Kothlis. They're using some new variation of X-wing starfighter. It's tougher, faster and more maneuverable, our starfighters can't make up for the difference."

"What else will they throw at us?" The Admiral grumbled half under his breath. "Other parts of the sector were hit with Y-wings and other slow fighters outfitted as gunships. I need to know, did they use many torpedoes or missiles against your group?"

"No sir. They either were holding them in reserve or just didn't have many."

"Did their capital ships close to range with yours at any point?"

"Only when each of our heavier ships were cut off, when that happened their two heaviest ships closed in. They had a flight of Tie Defenders and a full squadron of the new X-wings escorting the pair of ships at all times. The majority of their starfighter force was made up of uglies though."

The Admiral nodded.

"Captain the entire Sector is being overtaken. With holocom communications being as troublesome as they are, keeping track of Rebel attacks is becoming impossible. We'll try to force them into an engagement at Bothawui but we'll be prepared to pull back to worlds closer to the Corellian Run. It could take us a couple of months to stamp out these damn Rebels."

"Understood sir. I'll bring the remainder of my fleet group into orbit around Bothawui."

"I'm going to begin transferring some of our personnel off of the planet. If the Rebels do come I don't want our people killed on the ground. I'm transferring my flag to my command frigate so I may be out of contact while gear is moved. I'm placing you as second in command Captain."

"What about Rear Admiral Harshing?"

"He's dead. His group was hit by an MC-90 and some sort of big Pirate ship. Vanton out."

The Destroyer Captain from Kuat thought things over. He'd always aspired to becoming an Admiral in command of his own fleet, not just a system defence force. With the Rear Admiral out of the way he could soon be given command of the entire sector fleet. Now he just had to make sure enough of the fleet survived to allow his ambitions room. Tyrannic was a powerful ship but he was well aware of her limitations.

"Com direct the fleet that we're to make for orbit of Bothawui. Helm put us in a standard Orbit."

+++ 

A day after the fall of the Kothlis system three Rebel fleets emerged from Hyperspace and began their cruise in towards the Bothan Homeworld.

Kre'fey looking slightly more dishevelled than he had a week before hand looked out the viewport.

"Status of the Imperial fleet?"

"Five Imperial class Star Destroyers in orbit and two Victory class ships headed in system towards their position. We have signs of transports and light capital ships leaving the ground."

"Are they pulling out?" the Bothan asked Corran who had come up from the starfighter bay.

The Corellian looked over some of the displays.

"If they are evacuating we need to hit those ships before they jump. They'll just be troops ready to drop on us again when they return with a larger fleet."

"Agreed. Helm plot a jump to take the fleet in to the edge of the planetary Gravity well."

"Booster isn't here yet." Horn reminded him.

"That smuggler believes in dramatic timing, he'll show up eventually. Launch hyperspace capable fighters, we're going in. Horn, get down to the launch bay."

058


	59. Chapter 59

+++ 

"Hyperspace reversions detected... _it's the entire Rebel fleet!_"

Nalgol was instantly up and out of his command chair. "Launch fighters and raise shields! Get me numbers and types of enemy ships!"

"Uh..." The sensor officer cleared his throat then continued. "Yes sir. Six squadrons of X-wing starfighters, more than half of them are of the newer variant, six squadrons of Twilek Deathseeds, four A-wing squadrons, and about fifteen squadrons of Uglies. Two Mon Cal Heavies, a Bothan Assault Carrier, Five Katana Dreadnaughts, about a dozen corvette class ships and three Victory Destroyers. There are also a few bulk cruisers and an Assault Frigate jumping in at the edges of the system."

The numbers were far too close even if the rebels hadn't been augmenting their forces with new fighters. "Where's the Admiral?"

"His command Frigate is still in orbit sir, the command staff are shuttling equipment aboard."

"Is the surface still secure?"

"No sir, we're starting to get reports of rioting. Word of Kothlis being taken apparently leaked."

"Send a message to the Admiral's command ship; we break orbit in five minutes. We can hold the Rebels off that long before we endanger our ability to retreat."

More than twenty squadrons of Tie series starfighters rushed toward the on coming wave of rebel fighters. The leading A-wings and faster Uglies crashed into them starting the looping dogfight. The heavier Rebel fighters came in next, burning their way through the clouds.

Imperial Capital ships began to fire turbolasers but there were so many starfighters in the way few of the shots made it to the rebel ships. The Rebel ships carefully picked shots at enemy ties as they approached, then started to pass through the starfighter engagement. Once they were far enough through the cloud the heaviest Rebel ships began to let loose on the Imperial capital ships.

Whole squadrons of starfighters began to leave the main fight to assist in the heavy ship fight. Y-wings each modified with a light Turbolaser turret began taking pot-shots at support ships while other lightly built Uglies started strafing the Destroyers.

"Obliterator is taking heavy damage." Reported sensors.

"She's protecting the entire port flank for the withdrawal. Com, direct the Lancer frigates in closer to the Destroyers they're in danger of-"

Both MC-90 cruisers chose that moment to send turbolaser broadsides into one of the Lancer Frigates that had been straying too far away from the larger ships. The sublight drive lit up like a pyrotechnics display. Seconds later with the Lancer out of the way squadrons of uglies strafed the Obliterator.

Nalgol came to the only solution available to him. "We can't hold any longer, all ships break orbit, best possible speed."

The Com officer looked up. "We still have troop transports on the way up from the surface sir."

"It won't do them much good to dock with ships that have turned into an orbital debris field will it?!"

"Obliterator is disabled," Reported sensors. "Support ships on the port side of the formation are taking heavy hits."

"Time to the edge of the gravity well?"

Out ahead one of the other Destroyers in the group jumped to hyperspace. Other smaller ships soon began to join it.

"Sixty seconds."

"Begin fighter recovery. Get the remaining Frigates in close so we'll have anti-starfighter cover for our jump."

"The Admiral's command Frigate has been hit."

All around them other ships were jumping. A steady tremble began to run though the ship as laser fire hammered at the aft shields.

"Transfer power from forward weapons to aft shields."

The shuddering of the ship began to come in waves of increasing strength as the more of the Rebel ships closed in. "Sir, we won't be able to recover all of our fighters before it's time to jump."

"We don't have a choice," growled out the Kuati. "Leave them!"

The shield indicator flickered and died and then the stars elongated as the Tyrannic entered Hyperspace.

+++ 

A cheer went up on the bridge of the Ralroost.

"The last Destroyer just jumped into hyperspace. Their course puts them headed roughly towards the Corellian Run."

"Where they'll flag down any patrol fleets they find to send more support from the core regions." Kre'fey shook his head. "Status of the planetary shields?"

"They're flickering in and out. It looks like there are heavy riots near the generator protecting the capital."

"Commence planetary assault while the shields are still having trouble. Send in the Uller as well, they're still equipped for assault duties."

The Com officer directed a tight beam transmission to one of the other ships in the fleet. "Ralroost to VSD Uller, you are cleared for drop. Begin at your earliest convenience."

+++ 

The heavily Modified Victory class Destroyer Uller blasted it's way through the light flickering planetary shields protecting Bothawui and entered the atmosphere. The old ships' shields lit up from the heat of re-entry and the repulsors, powerful enough to keep the ship aloft, groaned to life for the first time in years. A few dozen AB-Wing uglies and Deathseeds followed the capital ship in, ready to help target any ground based defences capable of harming a Destroyer.

Uller began to level out at around twenty thousand, coming to a cruise at fifteen thousand meters above the capital. The moment her descent ceased the Assault drop started. Thirty Ultra Light Assault Vehicles dropped from cables suspended from the main bay ceiling. A few more launched from the old assault concussion missile tubes, all of them descending en-mass into the city.

Pairs of Gamma class assault transports and shuttles began their descent from orbit. Invasion sirens were going off down at street level and the remaining Imperial troops rushed to counter the incoming Rebel forces. A pair of ULAV's fired concussion missiles at a large blocky storage building that AT-AT's were starting to launch from. The collapsing Ferrocrete crushed one of the vehicles as it was exiting, blocking any others inside from leaving before the bunker imploded.

AB-wings with their starfighter grade Lasers or Ion cannon were detailed to take down the more heavily armoured walkers. High above, Uller turned to bring more of it's Turbolasers in line with her intended target then fired at the main Imperial Garrison base. The first two salvos destroyed the outer walls and the third set the entire base on fire. It still took some ten more blasts to reduce the building to rubble.

Down at street level landing ramps dropped on transports and Alliance troops poured out. ULAV's flew every which way, attacking bands of Stormtroopers with their laser cannon and blaster turret. The few AT-ST groups that had been outside the garrison building became easy pickings for starfighter groups and any other major problems could be dealt with by the Destroyer hovering overhead.

059


	60. Chapter 60

+++ 

Captain Nalgol paced the command walkway of Tyrannic. Four Imperial class Star Destroyers had fled, had simply run away, from a group of mere Rebels. In all fairness though the Rebels had brought along the two most powerful Warships the Mon Cal had ever built. And those Ugly starfighters they'd used...

"Sensors have you begun an analysis of the starfighters employed by the Rebel forces?"

"No, sir."

"Begin one immediately. Com, when we come out of hyperspace for our next course change contact the Strike Cruiser Brigandine and our remaining Carrack Cruisers. Send them to the sectors surrounding Bothan space and deliver warnings about heavy Rebel activity. They'll have a much harder time expanding their foothold if all of the nearest sectors are on alert."

Nalgol considered the state of the sector fleet that had occupied Bothan space. Some systems in the sector were more remote and without hypercom wouldn't know for some time that they'd been cut off. The Moffs in the surrounding sectors would probably hoard their ships and Destroyers for their own defence rather than risk losing valuable warships away from home.

Tyrannic reverted to real space at the rear of the Destroyer formation. A handful of the smaller ships changed course after receiving their orders and headed off into Hyperspace. "Make our course for Druckenwell, best possible speed. First we alert the fleet and then... on to crushing Rebels."

+++ 

Traest Kre'fey looked out the viewports at the Bothan Homeworld. Space in orbit was a riot of activity. Starfighters, recovery shuttles and transports all competed for room. The Galactic Venture had finally arrived on station more than an hour after the Imperial retreat. The old Corellian Smuggler that captained her was now helping to organise efforts at the main spaceport. He seemed to thrive on the chaos...

One of his cousins from the Fey'lya side of the family had come aboard soon after the capital was secure. He was one of the last few alive that knew where the Bothan government had hidden the remaining incomplete Bothan Assault Cruisers. Supposedly there had been a shortage of weapons and equipment needed to finish the ships three years before. Knowing that they'd need the ships soon, even if they weren't finished, the Admiral had sent both MC-90 cruisers off with his cousin.

Booster and Karrde had both promised before hand to move civilian ships into the sector carrying the Turbolasers and weapons stores that they'd set aside over the years. Now techs and mechanics were madly grafting the weapons onto any ship that the fleet could get their hands on. The Bothan prayed that they had enough time to gather support.

+++ 

The Rebel infantry squad advanced through the city into one of the residential blocks. It was an Imperial designed area but many locals still chose to live there due to the low costs. One Bothan in the group, wearing a Pilot's uniform activated the buildings public address system.

"To the Residents to D block, this is Colonel Asyr Sei'lar of the Rebel Alliance military. Today, the Empire is gone from your homes. But we need your support if you want them to stay away. If you have any weapons or credits to spare please donate them. Any credits that you can donate will be used to buy ships and weapons to defend Bothan space from the coming Imperial counter attack.

If you have any mechanical or technical skills, please feel free to volunteer for work at the space port. We need your help to prepare our fleet and the planet's defences for the Imperial response. Any way that you can help would be greatly appreciated.

For any of those whishing to join the Rebellion itself and fight in defence of your home, there is a recruitment station now open on the southern side of the space port."

Sei'lar deactivated the address system and looked over to the Rebel Sergeant in charge of the squad escorting her.

"Do you think this is really working?"

The Human wearing modified scout armour shrugged. "I've heard over the com that people are starting to filter into the recruitment station. Some Mechanics have shown up at the space port already, some even offering the use of their repair bays."

"Will it be enough?"

"You know that better than I do Mam."

Asyr's comlink chirped. "Kre'fey to Sei'lar, report."

"We're leaving D block and moving on," she replied, lifting the com to her mouth.

"Pick up the pace if you can. Some mercenary groups are already starting to arrive and we don't have enough money yet to actually pay for their services."

"Roger that. I can try to get some money from my family's accounts if we need it right away but you'll have to try to stall them."

"I'm having Booster take care of it, he's put people in charge at the spaceport to get it under control. We need to move the bulk of the fleet soon. I want you at the Kothlis staging point. We're still trying to decide who to leave in command here."

"Corran has enough experience but I don't really know what kind of anti-human sentiment there is on the ground."

"I'll get a speech writer to help him out and leave Aril Nunb in command of the Destroyers. She can back him up if need be. Now get up to the Ralroost, we're leaving later today."

+++ 

More than two days after their arrival at Druckenwell the Tyrannic and her fleet continued to wait. Nalgol was becoming impatient which was annoying by itself. "A noble of Kuat should have better self control." He muttered under his breath. Still, they were called rapid response fleets for a reason and travel down the Corellian Run normally took very little time.

At long last ships emerged from Hyperspace.

The Sensors officer spoke up. "ISDII High Order and two Victory Destroyer Upgrades are now coming on station sir."

"We're being hailed, sir," said Com.

"Put it on loudspeakers," replied Nalgol as he made his way to the forward station.

"This is Inquisitor Halmere aboard High Order to sector fleet survivors. Respond at once."

Nalgol reached the forward station. "Com put me through."

The holo image of the Inquisitor had not finished resolving itself before the Captain began speaking, guessing that the other man wanted answers fast.

"This is Captain Nalgol aboard Tyrannic of the Bothan Sector Fleet. Awaiting your command Inquisitor."

"We received word that your fleet had been forced from it's duties by Rebels. What was the largest force you encountered?"

Nalgol swallowed. "Two Mon Cal Heavy Cruisers, three light Destroyers, a Bothan Cruiser and dozen or more support ships."

The Inquisitor nodded deeply in thought, strands of blond hair starting to turn white straying out from beneath his hood. He looked up, a gleam of something between madness and determination glinting in his eye.

"The Imperial response fleet will arrive here shortly. You may file your full report with General Turr Phennir upon his arrival. There has been some delay due to... _other_ activity."

Nalgol nodded enthusiastically. General Phennir had made a career of fighting and killing Rebels and had risen through the ranks in Soontir Fel's 181st. Though a Tie Pilot through and through the man had a solid grasp of Capital ship tactics as well.

"Do you know if we can expect a Sovereign, Inquisitor? With just one of those ships we could recover the remaining ships in the sector fleet and destroy the Rebels once and for all."

The skin around one of the Inquisitor's eyes tightened. "Unfortunately Captain I sent the only Sovereign available to me out to the Sluis sector to deal with reports of increasing rebellion there. Another will not be available for some time. Now, attend to your duties Captain..."

The hologram winked out.

"...and I will attend to mine." said Halmere into the darkness of his personal chamber.

060


	61. Chapter 61

+++ 

The Ralroost and her sister ship, another partially completed Bothan Cruiser, dropped out of hyperspace in high orbit of Bothawui. Ralroost's crew had finished making the newer ship essentially space worthy in record time and more importantly had installed her hyperdrive. The larger crews of both MC-90 Heavy Cruisers were working overtime to outfit the remaining Bothan Assault Cruisers.

"Kre'fey to Bothawui control, please direct Cruiser 'Pride of Kothlis' to a parking orbit for maintenance."

"Bothawui control, order acknowledged Admiral. Please be advised that a representative of the Smuggler's Alliance has been attempting to contact you."

"Understood. I'll take care of it."

Kre'fey glanced over his shoulder. "Com, see if you can find the Wild Karrde in orbit somewhere and put me through to them."

After a few minutes of bouncing signals off of orbital Com satellites the officer looked up.

"Signal is going through sir."

The bearded Information broker and smuggler kingpin that was Booster's partner appeared in the Holo display.

"Karrde here, I've got the ships that you wanted and a few other things besides."

"Thank The Force." The Bothan Admiral exclaimed out loud. "Make for the main spaceport. We're bringing in weapons shipments there."

"Already way ahead of you. I do have a few 'mission specific' modules that the Heavy lifters still need to bring down from orbit though. Any idea on placement?"

"Horn should be on the ground, talk to him. Has Booster given any word on how things are working out with the Mercenaries?"

Karrde shrugged. "You don't have enough money to pay for all of them just yet but Booster gave them his word that they'd be paid eventually one way or another. Rumours are starting to circulate about the salvage price on Imperial ships. After he calmed most of them down about the whole matter Booster dropped his starfighter wing and left the system. That was nearly an hour after I arrived in system."

"Do you know what he's up to?"

"I'll bet he went to get the rest of his fighters. It'll help."

Karrde chuckled. "Have you seen the capital's space port by the way? They're starting to force Starfighters to park out in nearby fields and ground lanes."

"I hope Booster looked into how all of those fighters are going to refuel before he left."

Karrde glanced to the side of the screen for a moment and then brought is attention back to the Admiral, his face serious.

"Some of my sources have spotted a major Imp taskforce forming up on the Corellian Run. More than twenty heavies plus support."

"Any signs of Superweapons?"

"None. Either the Imperials believe one isn't necessary... or one just isn't available."

"Iblis." Kre'fey muttered. "Is there any way we can warn the Corellian General?"

"Not before his own intel network finds out about it."

"How long until the Imperial fleet hits us?"

"Two or three days at the most. You should start preparing for recon flights."

"I suppose a week was all we could hope for. This has to work Karrde. The Empire hits us faster and harder each time we try to come back and restart the fight."

The human frowned. "If we fail this time it'll be more than a generation before anyone try's again."

+++ 

General Turr Phennir marched onto the bridge of the Command class Super Star Destroyer 'Blade of the Empire.' Her sister ship, Anguish, cruised ahead and to port. He continued up the command walkway to the forward viewports. Sixteen Imperial class Destroyers surrounded his two most powerful ships, with four more from the Bothan Sector fleet towards the front of the formation and the Inquisitor's hanging back toward the rear. Ten Victory Destroyers, a dedicated Droid fighter Carrier and a host of support ships rounded out the fleet.

He put his hand up to the tansparisteel viewport and examined the thickness of it's inner and outer layers. Twenty years ago at Endor he'd seen an A-wing Starfighter shear clean through the viewport of the Executor. Admiral Piett had been killed instantly, and it must have been through an act of the Emperor himself that the great ship hadn't fallen out of orbit when her controls went awry. As it was, Chimera, Devastator and Virulience had only barely stabilised the huge Destroyer with their Tractor beams.

These days the bridge viewports of dedicated command ships were designed to survive a suicide attack. Most of those types of attacks anyways.

The General's aid approached, stirring him from his thoughts.

"The latest Tie simulation scores sir."

The General picked up the pad and scrolled down the list glancing over the averages for each unit.

"Is this all of them?"

"Yes sir."

"These scores are against the programs I assigned? All of them?"

"Yes sir." The Junior officer repeated.

Phennir held up the datapad and waved it slightly. "With these results either all of our Pilots are good enough to fly against Vader and Fel at the heights of their careers, or someone turned down the difficulty levels."

"There were some complaints that came in from some squadron commanders sir, insisting that the difficulty was set too high for pilots to get any lengthy experience with it."

"You may tell the pilots that each simulation is based off of actual battles. I realise that not all of our pilots are up to 181st standards," said the General turning to look out the viewport again. "...but we need to get those that _are_ capable up to the level where they'll survive."

Phennir handed the datapad back to his aid. "Reset the scores. The Inquisitor has insisted that we attack the Bothan Homeworld within the next three days, our people have that long to prepare. Whatever new simulations are being prepared based off the information from the sector fleet survivors, either double the Rebel numbers or their difficulty settings."

The aid waited, silently guessing what Phennir would say next.

"...Preferably both." The General said at last.

061


	62. Chapter 62

+++ 

Halmere sat in his meditation chamber aboard the Destroyer High Order. Even those who used the Dark side needed to concentrate when it came to the more powerful works.

The Emperor and Darth Vader had given him the mission of tracking down the powerful Kyp Durron. The events that lead from the boy's rise from the spice mines of Kessel to one of the most powerful enemies of the Emperor were an embarrassment to the Order. Worst of all, the escaped dark Jedi -for that was truly what he was- had gone on to train other apprentices not nearly so tainted by the dark side.

Durron was the opposite of Halmere, a Dark Jedi trying to move towards the light. But the long path to the light was one with many stumbling points. If he could wait and watch for the right opportunity, push when anger was trying to take him, Durron might fall. The other Jedi that had gathered to the Rebellion were all of rather mediocre power by comparison. With their only potential Jedi Master out of the way the others would fall one by one just as with the other Jedi purges before.

It would take all of his power and concentration to try and tilt the slope on which Durron stood in the coming battle. His target would be there, the Emperor had been able to determine that Kyp would be at Bothawui for a large battle. It was one of the few hint's anyone had been able to glean from the Force about the Rogue's whereabouts in more than a year.

Halmere opened one of the sealed cases in his meditation chamber. In it was one of the crystals that has been discovered through the efforts of Dessan. They could act as something of a force reserve to help stave off weariness when used in battle. The difficult part was charging them. It was rumoured among his servants that the Emperor had been conducting larger and larger experiments with them, trying to find new ways to expand his already near limitless power.

Thinking about those things were for later though. He sat back and focused on filling the small force receptive crystal in front of him with his rage, his anger and most importantly his feeling of power.

+++ 

Blade of the Empire reverted to hyperspace at the edge of Bothan Space.

Recon units of Carrack Cruisers equipped with Assault Gunboats jumped to hyperspace on different headings. Each ship would check one of the likely star systems in the sector for the presence of the Rebel fleet. Once that was known the Imperial fleet would strike accordingly.

"We have to destroy as many of the Rebel in one swift strike as possible." Mused Phennir, once again looking out the viewports of his command ship. It had taken him awhile to realise it at first, but when he'd been transferred to shipboard command looking from a ship's viewports was much like looking out from a Tie Cockpit.

The Inquisitor hadn't contacted him since before they left the Corellian Run so he intended to follow his last orders. 'Engage the Rebel fleet within three days time.'

Reports started to come in from the surrounding sectors. Most had reported a flurry of Rebel activity over the past week or more but much of it had quieted over the past few days.

Hours after the fleet's arrival on station, the scout ships began to return.

"Scouts report that a large rebel force remains at Bothawui sir." The General's aid finally reported. "Three Victory Destroyers, the Bothan Cruiser-Carrier and some converted freighters."

"How many starfighter squadrons were present?"

"It's difficult to tell sir, a large number of them appear to be groundside. From what we've been able to determine there are close to twenty squadrons augmented with another ten squadrons of rebuilt Tie Starfighters.

"Ten Squadrons?!"

"Yes sir, six appear to be older Tie/ln and four more are Tie Interceptor. The interceptors may have been captured from Squadrons left behind by the retreating sector fleet. As for the older Tie Starfighters, there were no reports of them being used in the invasion of the sector. It's likely they were being held in reserve."

"And these are the Rebels so they'll have equipped nearly all of them with at least rudimentary shields."   
_This could be difficult._

"Where are the Mon Cal's?"

"They haven't been found yet sir."

"And the Pirate Cruiser?"

"Last reported outside of the sector just yesterday."

Phennir contemplated the sort of tactics the Rebels might use.

"...Eighteen squadrons between those three missing ships. They're valuable enough that I doubt the Rebels would let them travel alone."

The sensors officer down in the crew pit spoke up. "Sir, unscheduled hyperspace reversions detected... It's a small rebel strike group. Corvettes and Gunships."

"They may have followed our scout ships back." Suggested the General's aid.

"Possible, but it's more likely that they've been searching for us." Phennir raised his voice slightly so that everyone in the crew pit could hear.

"Put the fleet on alert and scramble starfighters to intercept the Rebel group. I want a Strike Cruiser and two Carrack Cruisers to make a close pass on the Rebel starships. When our ships begin to engage, have our Interdictor activate gravity wells."

"Rebel Corvette group is staying near the edge of our maximum Gravity well range."

The Imperial General cursed. "We're going to suffer hit and fade attacks until we hit the Rebel main fleet. They're hoping to wear down our numbers before that happens."

062


	63. Chapter 63

+++ 

The modified Corellian Corvette 'Flight Stream' launched another custom built two stage cruise missile at the Imperial fleet. The first stage consisted of a cheap repulsor unit coupled with a set of thrusters. The second stage was a Heavy Rocket with an optical sensor jury rigged to point the missile towards anything Star Destroyer shaped. The Rockets weren't much faster than the average starfighter meaning the Imperials could shoot them down, but it distracted the ties from the Rebel fighters.

The turbolasers on the Wild Karrde winged an Interceptor that had slipped past the fighter screen of IRD's. Karrde's command ship hung near the Marauder Corvette making up the center of the Rebel strike group's formation. Two Corellian Gunships held the flanks and helped to chase off the worst of the Tie squadrons. A mixed flight from Wraith Squadron and a Deathseed squadron rounded out the group.

"We've got a few Imp capital ships coming out to say hello."

Karrde nodded once. "Get ready to signal our backup and jump out."

"Interdictor is bringing up it's gravity well projectors," reported the smuggler crewer on sensors.

"Signal Borealis to get in here. All ships make for the edge of the gravity well and jump when ready."

Flight Stream fired one last missile at the oncoming Imperial ships then turned with it's escorts. On the other side of the Imperial fleet a Nebulon B Frigate and another Corvette were dragged to real space by the Gravity well. The Wild Karrde and her group jumped away just as the Frigate began deploying A-wings.

+++ 

"This is going to go nowhere. Pull back the Ties and deploy our I-7 Howlrunner squadrons, send out a few squadrons of Tie Bombers as well."

As the starfighter coordinator followed his orders Turr Phennir's aid walked over.

"Sir, is it wise to deploy I-7's against main line enemy starfighters? They're very weak Dogfighters."

The General waved off his concerns. "They're fast enough to quickly put pressure on any Rebel units that come out of hyperspace and they have enough shield power to retreat if need be. If any Rebel force stays long enough the newer Tie Bombers will hit the capital ships. Now, resume our recon flights into Bothan space, I want those ships found."

+++ 

The communications officer aboard Ralroost handed a datapad to Admiral Kre'fey.

"Karrde is reporting that his units have engaged the Imperial fleet sir. Full breakdown of unit strengths."

Kre'fey scanned through the unit reports. The abundance of Destroyers that had been expected did not disappoint. There were support ships, but not the overwhelming number that some commanders liked to use. The Droid Carrier and the Interdictor present had been expected, and so had the Lancer Frigates.

The Admiral turned. "Com, are you certain about these reports? All of the Lancer Frigates are older models."

"Certain sir. Also, new reports coming in about the presence of I-7 howlrunners in the Imperial Fleet."

"Those are only used rarely by the Imperial Fleet. They have a poor rate of turn... but the newer ones _are_ equipped with shields."

"Should I instruct Karrde's group to break off their strikes sir?"

He shook his head. "No. We need them to do some damage even if it's limited."

Kyp and Octa strode onto the bridge moments later both still wore flight suit equipment. The Admiral looked up from his work at the two.

"What can I do for you today?"

Kyp shrugged. "Just wondering how much longer we have to wait around before heading off to deal with those Vong. I'd love to stay and help more but after this battle I want to go bring back the remaining Rebel cells in the invasion zone."

"The Imperial fleet has entered the sector. Another week will decide things here."

"Fine. Anything we can do more immediately?"

The Bothan set down a datapad he'd been checking over and turned back to the Jedi. "Actually, since you're both experienced with ship repair I was wondering if you could help out some of the damage control teams finishing up the other ships."

Octa nodded. "It would beat just hanging around waiting for the fight, and using the force in a starfighter simulation doesn't work so well."

"Good. They need the most help on Bothan Carrier three. We still haven't come up with a name for her yet."

Kyp threw a lazy salute and walked out of the bridge. The Bothan shook his head at the Human's lack of protocol and turned to the com officer again.

"Put me through to all ships."

"Channel open."

"This is Kre'fey to all ships, go to skeleton crew mode. Everyone not on skeleton crew duties please assist in refit and repair duties."

063


	64. Chapter 64

+++ 

Turr Phennir's Destroyer Fleet reverted to realspace in the Bothan home system. Rebel raids had continued to plague them though every jump on the way here. Not long after their arrival in system the Nebulon B Frigate that had been harassing them the most jumped in and resumed it's work.

The other corvettes and converted freighter that had also been attacking them were some distance ahead of the fleet and heading for the Bothan Capital world. Other Rebel ships showed up on the sensor screen, the vast majority of them were heading for the planet, including the Three Victory Destroyers and Bothan Cruiser.

"Deploy a Starfighter screen, one third of our total force. Flight co-ordinator, begin six hour rotations."

"Aye sir."

"When we begin full deployment I want two squadrons of Defenders and four Squadrons of Gauntlets covering each of the Command ships."

"Understood sir. Shall we have our A-9's trade off with the I-7's dealing with the A-wings?"

"A good suggestion. Similar rotations as with the rest of our fighters, carry on."

The Taskforce slowly made for a high orbit above Bothawui. The Rebels retreated ahead of them the entire way. A few last fast freighters reached the relative safety of the planetary gravity well before the Imperial fleet reached orbit. An empty container transport jumped away from the far side of the planet headed for Kothlis.

"Rebel Destroyers and cruisers pulling back below the level of the Planetary shields."

"Are they hoping for a siege?" The General wondered out loud. "Sensors high intensity scans of the entire surface."

"The Capital appears to have been heavily fortified with Rebel troops. The Rebel space forces look to be pulling back to the south of the city."

"Hoping we won't bombard the civilians to dust no doubt. How many human life signs remain in the city?"

"Approximately the same as before the Rebel invasion, with the exception of our garrison bases."

The fleet closed in on the planet until they reached a high orbit. A few Carrack and Strike class Cruisers spread out to enforce a loose blockade around the planet.

"Edges of our formation now entering planetary gravity well."

"Hold the fleet at this altitude for now. Communications, any signs of the remaining Rebel ships from our scouts?"

"None sir, but there's a lot of empty space between systems for the Rebels to hide in."

"Agreed. Groundside status?"

"Planetary shields are at full power sir. We can bring them down with a bombardment but it will take most of the fleet."

"Have our Victory Destroyers, eight Imperial Destroyers and a light cruiser screen move into bombardment range of the planet. Move half of our Lancer Frigates into a position to support them. The remainder of the fleet will deploy to protect the bombardment force from any surprise attacks by the missing ships."

"Sir," asked the com officer, "where would you like our command ships placed?"

"Keep both Super Star Destroyers, the carriers and the Inquisitor's ship at the center of the fleet, between both screening forces."

+++ 

Corran Horn looked at the hologram of Aril Nunb as she relayed the movements of the Imperial fleet to the commanders on the ground. "The Imp fleet is redeploying for bombardment. About half the fleet is being held back to cover them." She paused and continued in a more joking tone. "I guess they noticed a few of our ships were missing."

Corran rolled his eyes. "We'll have to see what it takes for them to reconsider how much of their force we're worth then."

Karrde looked between the starfighter commander and the Rear Admiral's Hologram. "We still have to be careful, your old Dreadnaughts are still on the ground and it takes a few minutes to disconnect them from the planetary shield grid."

Corran shook his head. "We have to keep them on the ground if we want to shields to hold up for the last few minutes of their bombardment."

"I agree." Added Nunb. "Those cruisers will do better after the battle is joined then they would in a head to head with the bombardment force. The Mon Cal's never got around to upgrading them with redundant systems."

"Since you two both seem set on our current course I'll go make sure the One Sixty One's are free of any last minute sabotage."

"Thank you Karrde, for everything." Said Corran. "I'll see you in orbit."

"I hope not," replied the smuggler as he walked away. "If I do it mean's I've had to pick you up after ejecting merely to annoy Booster once again."

After Karrde was out of earshot Corran turned back to the holo projector.

"Any news from Kre'fey?"

Nunb shook her head. "He won't risk the chance that the Imperial fleet might pick up the transmission. We already sent _our_ distress signal of course."

Corran bowed his head in thought.

"Are you a sabbac player?"

Nunb shook her head. "Most Sullustans arn't gamblers, but I watched a few of the others play in my stint in Rogue Squadron."

"Kre'fey already bet our entire fleet just on taking Bothan space. We did it through some miracle. But this time, he's betting everything on keeping it. Not just our forces or the locals, everyone from more than twenty sectors is here plus the smugglers Alliance. We're betting everything against the Empire's big hand."

"True, but we have one skifter in the deck."

"Will it be enough?"

"You're a Jedi arn't you? Ask The Force."

064


	65. Chapter 65

+++ 

"Redeployment of the fleet is complete sir," reported Phennir's aid. "All Destroyers are in position."

"Commence bombardment."

Out in space bright green bolts began to rain down from the Destroyers positioned in a low orbit and strike the planetary shields. The shields began to glow green around the impact points as the beams were dissipated.

+++ 

The Ralroost's com officer looked up and waved over the Admiral. "The Imperial fleet has begun bombardment of Bothawui sir."

Kre'fey punched one hand into an open palm. "That's it then. All repair crews finish off the work that they've started and then get to battle stations. See if you can get some of the regular crew rested before we jump."

There were a few minutes of giving orders to different crewmen before the Admiral turned back to the Communications officer.

"Com, how long can the planetary shields hold?"

"The Imperials don't look to be using all of their fleet for the bombardment. It may take as long as four or five hours."

Kre'fey nodded to himself while thinking out loud. "That's enough time to give our starfighter pilots some rest."

"Imperial scout ships are still being reported in other systems, a number of them near Kothlis."

"Looks like they have the right instinct about our fleet's location. Thankfully we're too far out for them to detect." At a half light year out from the system center the Rebel fleet wouldn't remain undetected forever if they remained in place. They had only needed a few days undisturbed though.

"Sir, most ships are reporting that they should have repair teams back aboard in slightly over an hour."

"Good. Begin transitioning the fleet to the far edges of the Bothan home system. Everyone, run though final systems checks if you can. We won't have another chance."

+++ 

The sensor officer aboard 'Blade of the Empire' had been calling out updates on shield strength at regular intervals for the better part of four hours now.

"Time to estimated planetary shield failure, ten minutes."

Phennir turned and looked down to the Com officer's station in the crew pit. "Hail our interdictor and tell them to activate gravity well projectors. We don't want any of the ships from the surface trying to escape into hyperspace."

"Aye sir."

"Flight, launch remaining starfighters but keep them near their motherships."

"Understood sir."

The countdown continued as Phennir's aid approached with a datapad in hand. "Sir, something odd that sensors noticed."

"Go ahead."

"We're having trouble finding the numbers of civilian ships we expected at the planetary spaceports. Our scouts that have checked the other systems in the sector also noticed considerably lower numbers of civilian ships present."

"Did the Rebels evacuate the sector?"

_Is it possible they could have pulled out valuable people and equipment for use at one of their hidden bases?_ the General though to himself.

"If they did sir, it would be leaving the ships here to die. Many of their better warships are here including most of their corvettes and gunships. There are signs that they've spent a great deal of effort modifying the old first generation Victory Destroyers that they acquired."

The General turned to look out the forward viewports.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this."

+++ 

Halmere continued to meditate and search for the presence of his intended target. He had already located the Corellian Jedi and the other, weaker one from Toprawa down on the planet's surface and dismissed them as irrelevant. Neither seemed especially susceptible to the dark side at the moment.

_Durron..._

He felt something flutter at the edges of his perceptions. Something that had to be far away, perhaps just beyond the edges of the system. It was him.

It _had_ to be him, there was no other answer. This one was powerful to be sure, not as powerful as Vader or Palpatine but someone who could still be a threat.

The Inquisitor increased the pace of his preparations for his Dark Side assault on the Rogue.

+++ 

"This is Commander Horn to all Alliance starfighter forces. Begin launch."

The squadrons that had been ready and waiting on the ground since the Imperial fleet arrival began to lift off on repulsors and orbit the capital ship force that floated midway between the surface and the planetary shields.

Rebel Tie Starfighters had been painted with bright Red and White markings to ensure friendly fire was kept to a minimum. Even if the Imperials had any fighters from 181st here the Rebels would notice the lack of white paint.

Corran's X-wing unit, nicknamed 'CorSec' stayed close to the Destroyers. The Deathseeds that had remained on planet lifted from the space port, their commander was a former Wraith squadron pilot and seemed happy to have the chance to fly with them again. The Wraiths themselves were flying a mix of stolen Tie craft, but their one Jedi pilot had gotten hold of a new XJ X-wing.

A squadron and a half of A-wings that had been put together with a mix of volunteer units orbited at the highest limits of the formation. Two AB-Wing ugly squadrons soon rose to joined them. The squadrons Booster had left behind joined the Ties orbiting the fleet.

"Planetary shields nearing failure." Reported Admiral Nunb. "Switching to Dreadnaught reactors for shield power. Capacitors beginning charge from planetary reactors."

+++ 

Captain Nalgol looked down into the crewpit watching the status displays on the Planetary shields. Tyrannic was one of the Destroyers assisting in the bombardment. The Destroyer presented her portside profile to the planet, not wanting to have the launch bay exposed.

"Sir, the four Rebel Dreadnaughts at the main Space Port have not yet lifted off to join the rest of the Rebel fleet."

"Keep an eye on them, we may be able to hit their engines if they decide to lift off after the shields are down."

"Designating them as a secondary target," said weapons.

"Planetary shield failure in progress. Rebel ships and starfighters are accelerating to attack posture. Full shield collapse in... thirty seconds."

"Bring in our starfighter screen, standard deployment."

+++ 

Down on the planet's surface Karrde hit the detonator switch controlling explosive bolts on the largest containers that had been set down at the space port. The huge J-Type containers fell open exposing the spherical shaped cargo held in their interiors. Metal segments sitting atop the sphere retracted and then closed together like a flower in reverse, forming into a thick barrel shape.

+++ 

Corran, knowing that it couldn't be helped if they were to win this battle began to open himself to the Force. He could start to feel the presence of the starfighter pilots not only in his squadrons but the Imperial units as well. He'd also intimately feel the death of each pilot and soldier nearby while in this state though.

It had to be done, to help save more of his friends today.

Time seemed to slow down.

+++ 

One of Karrde's long time crew members stood at the weapons console of the Wild Karrde.

"One Sixty One's standing by. Drawing power from the capacitors."

+++ 

The Tyrranic's sensor officer panned scanners over the Rebel fleet.

"Rebel ships are changing their formation slightly... Planetary Shields are down."

"Weapons, target the enemy Victory Destroyers."

+++ 

Karrde rushed onto the bridge off his ship just to catch what could have been the most important words of that day.

"Stand by Ion control... fire."

065


	66. Chapter 66

-1

+++ 

Nalgol looked out the forward viewport so that he could see the Turbolasers of the Imperial fleet burning down the Rebel ships as they launched into orbit.

Instead he watched as a pair of large energy bolts lanced up into orbit and struck the Victory Destroyer Upgrades closest to the planet's surface. Four more bolts streaked up and hit more of the ships in the Imperial fleet. Flashes of lightning arcing around the outer armour of the ships was visible from the Tyrannic's main viewport.

"Ion fire detected!"

Nalgol turned and shouted back into the crew pit. "Helm, back us out or range of those ground based guns! Sensors what are they using?"

"Readings are consistent with the KDY V-161c Ion Cannon. The 'C' model is a concealed variant. They're normally used by XTS and deployed in banks of three."

A few of the Imperial Victory Destroyers fired their Turbolasers down on the space port before they were disabled, but the four Dreadnaughts on the ground had raised their own shields and overlapped them to protect the cannons. One Lancer frigate caught out of position was hit by a stray bolt and her drive unit exploded.

"Double our shields to the planet facing side," commanded the ship Captain.

An Ion bolt hit the reinforced shields and punched through. Some of the armour plate on the bow exploded and the bow tractor beams went off line.

"How did that go through our shields?"

"The 161 series uses more plasma in the beam sir. The Ion shock allowed it to get through the shield."

"Damage minimal sir. Systems backups coming online."

"Com, direct ships near us that are still online to try and use tractor beams to pull disabled ships out of range."

Time slowed to a crawl as Tie squadrons angled for attack. Defender and Avenger squadrons lead the charge at the Rebels. Corran didn't even bother with missiles right off. He linked lasers for quad fire and pulled the trigger. Two bursts weakened the shields of the Defender he was up against and the third punched through at a single point, shearing off the port lower stabilizer.

As the wounded Defender tumbled past ball explosions rocked his fighter as pilots on both sides had decided to go for missiles first. Though high in the atmosphere there was still enough air around to cause large shockwaves when each explosive went off. The lead Imperial fighters that survived the pass were forced into a head to head with the Deathseed and Tie Clutch squadrons.

As the Ion cannon fire started most of the more advanced starfighters began pulling back to the still operational capital ships. Most of the Interceptors entered into dogfights with the Rebel Ties coming up from the surface. The entire situation was fast becoming a giant confused melee.

The Rebel capital ships fired into the disabled Imperial capital ships as they entered orbit. Assault Shuttles and transports began launching from the surface headed for the damaged ships.

Newer Imperial Tie bombers equipped with shields winged their way in towards the Rebel Victory Destroyers. Wraith and CorSec squadrons burst through the Tie melee and fell on them.

The Ralroost's communication's officer looked up.

"Scout reports that Planetary shields are down and that the Imperials have activated their gravity well generators."

The Bothan Admiral lifted his communicator to his mouth. "Kre'fey to all ships, commence jump."

"Bombardment forces are taking Ion Cannon fire from the surface."

General Phennir snapped his head around to look out the viewport and spotted the flash of the ground based weapons striking ships in his fleet. "Pull them out of range of the ground based weapons. I doubt our Vic's will get out of range in time."

Even though the fleet was equipped with upgraded models of Victory Destroyers they were still slower than most other capital ships.

"Do you wish to send more support to the bombardment force sir?" Asked the starfighter coordinator.

The General shook his head. "No, not yet. Get our remaining light cruisers ready to go to their assistance though. How many ships have been destroyed by the ground fire?"

"Several disabled but only one Lancer destroyed so far sir."

"Sensors how did you miss those guns?"

"They were designed by KDY for XTS. This model is supposed to be undetectable until they fire."

The sensor operator looked back down at his board and then back up at the General. "Hyperspace entry detected. They're being dragged out of hyperspace by our interdictor."

"It's about _time_." Phennir turned the last word into a curse. "Sensors please confirm presence of Mon Cal Heavy cruisers."

"Two Mon Cal Heavies detected along with the Pirate cruiser and three more Bothan Cruiser Carriers." The sensor operator looked at his screen and swallowed before continuing. "Also detecting large numbers of civilian ships converted with weapons and... "

"And what sensors?" The General prompted.

"Two damaged Imperial class Destroyers. One of which is confirmed as Obliterator."

"How many Civilian ships did you say were with their group?"

"Numbers still increasing sir, upwards of two hundred. Light freighters, transports, passenger liners... Incoming starfighters, X-wings and A-wings. Freighters and Cruisers are still launching starfighters."

"Bring our droid starfighter squadrons into position to support our ships facing the new arrivals. Send our Frigates and light cruisers to assist against the Rebel fleet. Put half of our Strike cruisers between us and the Rebels coming up from the surface."

066


	67. Chapter 67

-1

+++ 

Kyp pushed the throttle to maximum as the Rebel fleet bore down on the Imperial force. Three XJ squadrons trailed just behind four A-wing squadrons. Behind them came the remaining squadrons that Booster had picked up from his closest allies, Two Deathseed Squadrons lead by Tal'dira, and more squadrons composed of Pirates and Rebels brought in from the surrounding sectors within a week's travel.

Y-wing Gunboats modified with Turbolaser turrets and Skiprays brought up the flanks. All of the remaining EZ-95 Uglies had been handed over to Pirate or mercenary pilots lacking ships.

Ralroost made up the center of the now fast moving capital ship formation. She was flanked by both Mon Cal's who were in turn flanked by the other two Bothan Cruisers and the two Imperial class Destroyers. The converted transports and freighters cruised among and behind the larger Rebel ships waiting for them to bear the brunt of the opening turbolaser barrage. Booster's Galactic Venture came in just below the Ralroost.

Fast moving Imperial fighters, mostly I-7 Howlrunners but some A-9's came rushing out from the Imperial line at the last second. The seven leading Rebel squadrons smashed through the less maneuverable Imperial fighters and right on into a huge wave a Droid augmented Tie squadrons. Capital ships on both sides came into weapons range around the same time and Turbolasers flashed through the growing starfighter engagement starting to rage around the Imperial Destroyers.

The Rebel capital ships didn't slow as they closed to point blank range with the Imperial line. Each cruiser started to find it's own suitable gap in the enemy formation to push on through. Ralroost descended slightly and squeezed underneath a Destroyer raking it's ventral shields as they passed. The MC-90's each placed themselves directly between a pair of Destroyers and unleashed their broadside torpedo launchers.

Venture slowed just enough to come up on Ralroost's tail, topside heavy turrets expanding on the damage the Bothan ship had already done. Port and Starboard Quadlaser turrets fired endlessly into the clouds of ties filling space. The smaller single and double turbolaser turrets fired on any Imperial Frigates that came into range.

The Rebel capital ships now past the Imperial main line began to decelerate and engage the Frigates and Carracks that hadn't yet moved up to support the Destroyers. The converted civilian ships, streaming through the Imperial formation in the wake of the larger cruisers, fired weapons in nearly every direction.

+++ 

General Phennir shouted to the com officer. "Pull our ships back! That Destroyer line is useless with the Rebels in behind like that. Carracks and Nebulon Frigates give some cover to the Destroyers while they come about. Tell Nalgol aboard Tyrannic that I want them to begin a fighting withdrawal to our position and tow as many disabled ships with them as possible!"

It was getting more difficult by the moment to figure out the exact Rebel fleet strength. Most of the converted rebel ships were in different states of repair, some with only partially completed weapon additions. As he watched the displays a pair of passenger liners hammered a Nebulon B Frigate. The ship, which had been covering a Destroyer while it turned, was hit amidships repeatedly until it's connecting spar broke apart.

The starship battle was closely matched on both fronts and the two battles were starting to drift towards one another.

"Com, warn Tyrannic about the other Rebel force, the fighting is starting to drift into the path of their withdrawal. Helm move us up far enough to put long range fire on some of the Rebel Capital ships."

Phennir looked out the forward viewports at the Destroyer High Order sitting near his command ship.

"Inquisitor," he whispered, "If you're going to be doing anything to aid this battle please do it now.

Out at the battle line Y-wing Gunboats began to swarm the carrack cruisers and some of the Destroyers.

Halmere could feel the ebb and flow, the winking out of life, and the panic or terror before it happened. He drew the Dark side emotions and energies into himself, strengthening him slightly. He picked up the force reserve storing crystal that he had charged over the past few days.

Durron was here at long last, not far away at all, getting closer even. The Inquisitor glanced over at a small tactical display as the battle drifted closer, then closed his eyes.

He concentrated on focusing in on Kyp. The not quite so young man was intent on the battle, feeling which way an opponent would turn and firing a burst of laser fire to be right where an Imperial pilot was going to be. 

Another life winked out. 

Soon another joined it, and another, and another after that.

_Yessss_ Halmere whispered into Kyp's mind. He drew some of the power from the crystal and used it to influence the Rebel enough that he wouldn't question where the voice was coming from.

Kyp was going farther and farther into a trance like state, still fighting but his mind was elsewhere.

_Kyp Durron, you can feel the end of each life that you take. Do you take pleasure in it? _

"_No_" Kyp answered answered but part of him balked at that answer giving an echoy. [i_Yes_

"_Yes... I do._" Kyp answered.

_Death, destruction, these are all elements of the Dark Side... things that you know well enough. _

Another life winked out like a star exploding, sparkles radiating outward and then falling toward Kyp. The sparks of light being absorbed by him.

_You can draw power from the death's of others, with each that you kill you become more powerful._

"_Yes... no! Exar Kun-_" Kyp started to proest weakly but was cut off.

_Was a mere spirit trapped in ruins millennia old. You are still a living being, able to draw the force from life... or death itself. You know this._

A converted freighter exploded killing it's entire crew at once. Kyp drew strength from their ending lives.

_You know the **power** of the Dark Side._

"_But the price, it burns through someone without any regard._"

_Only for those who have not yet attained mastery. Even Exar Kun could not teach true mastery from beyond the grave. _

"_Who... who left would know?_"

_There is only one left that would know, that could know. One that has made himself immortal, avoiding death in ways even Kun could not mannage. But beware though, for he is always in search of a new apprentice to replace his old. _

"Kyp." echoed a woman's voice, from the depths.

The voice of Halmere continued.

_You know of who I speak. Others would stand in your way to him, many for different reasons, ...some to gain his apprenticeship themselves, ...some that would intend merely to spite you._

"_Yes._" Kyp agreed.

"Kyp!" Came the same echoing voice again followed by another's. "Kyp, respond!"

Kyp started to recognise the second voice. Corran Horn.

_...some that would intend merely to spite you..._

067


	68. Chapter 68

+++ 

Tyrannic held the center of the Imperial formation pulling back from the failed bombardment. The larger Star Destroyers did their best to drag disabled Victory destroyers behind them using tractor beams. The Rebel capital ships continued to harry the Imperial capital ships while their starfighters caused havoc. The damaged Vic's, while slowing down the retreat, were acting to draw some fire from the Rebel ships who didn't want to allow the smaller Destroyers to become operational again. In return, the Rebel Vic's were able to use the hulls to stay out of the heaviest Imperial counter fire.

A Corellian Corvette that had closed with Tyrannic realised they'd put themselves in too much danger and began to turn. An aft firing turbolaser barrage burned one side of the corvette's hammerhead bow along with the underside turbolaser and a few of the sublight drives. Before she could be hit by more fire it ducked into the Destroyer's engine wash and decelerated, fast falling behind the Imperial formation.

An X-wing squadron swept through the Destroyer formation to port of Tyrannic. Tie squadrons made swooping attacks on the group only to fall prey to a mix of Tie craft that were shadowing the X-wing unit. The fighters stayed clear of the Lancer frigates and refused to come too close to the Nebulon B Frigates.

Two X-wing's separated from the main unit both showing signs that they were avoiding the attacks from Interceptors before they were even fired.

"Sensors isolate those two X-wings."

The display screen showed one to have Green markings and the other to have Grey.

"Those have to be Jedi pilots, designate them as priority targets." realised Nalgol.

"Aye sir."

"Where are our Advanced starfighters?"

"Covering the rear guard of our formation sir."

"Fine, tell the Lancer Frigates to suspend friendly fire protocol if they think they can manage a shot."

At Nalgol's direction the Lancer Frigates had already closed to just above the hulls of the Star Destroyers. If the Rebel starfighters wanted to menace the larger ships it would greatly endanger their starfighters.

Corran and Tyria, the only two Force gifted members of the Bothawui Elite squadrons, had spit off from their squadrons to draw the attention of the Imperial squadrons nearby. Someone must have noticed the way they were flying because soon some six squadrons diverted their attention to focus on the two fighters.

"Corran it's working!" Shouted Tyria.

"I know it's working, run!" Replied Corran as he lead them down into the thickest concentration of Imperial capital ships, hoping to use them for some cover. A storm of green bolts criss-crossed space not just behind them but all around. If not for the improved speed and maneuverability of the new XJ's even Jedi senses wouldn't have been enough to save them. The pair flashed under the spar of a Nebulon B and then over and around a Carrack. A near miss from the Carrack's Ion cannon fuzzed the sensors on both X-wing's for half a second.

"Split up!" Shouted Corran and the two fighters turned away in opposite directions. A Heavy turbolaser bolt split space where they'd just been.

CorSec and Wraith squadrons, along with a few wayward A-wings were doing their best to down the Ties pursuing the two Jedi but it wasn't enough by any measure.

It was time for desperation tactics.

Corran dove toward one of the Star Destroyers that a Lancer Frigate was protecting. As he came up over the portside edge of the ship the Lancer above opened fire. Skimming the shields and hull of the Destroyer the Lancer didn't seem to care if each miss hit the larger Imperial ship. Through the Force he saw a wall of laser beams forming just ahead of his fighter and wrenched the X-wing into a ninety degree turn. The shield power dropped as ten beams grazed the underside shields.

A handful of Interceptors crazy enough to dare the fire from the frigate dove down, so the Corellian changed direction again, still skimming the shields, and flashed past the bridge tower, heading back to the main Rebel force. Tyria and the rest of the elite squadrons soon joined up with him, Ties still pursuing, and they looped around to join the Gunships at the edges of the Rebel force.

The Tyrannic's com officer raised his voice. "Sir we have a priority transmission from an oncoming Strike cruiser group. Audio only."

"Put it on." Commanded Nalgol.

"Tyrannic, this is Strike Cruiser group Alpha, we're going to try to scrape as many of those Rebels off you as we can."

Nalgol shook his head even as he head the other man.

"That's not going to work Alpha, there's just too many of them to pull that off. Come about and decelerate into our formation, that's the best thing you can do for us."

"Understood. Should we send our Tie squadrons into that big brawl happening just off your aft?

"Negative, keep your Ties for close support and to form a screening line. We need to keep as many Rebels from..."  
Nalgol looked out ahead and then checked the sensors.

"Alpha decelerate immediately. We have Carrack Cruisers retreating across our course. We've Rebel ships ahead."

The Destroyer Captain considered the options. He would have to punch through this group of Rebels fast if they were going to survive the ones coming up from behind.

"What is the delay with bringing our Destroyer line back into the main fight? They're coming in too slowly and not pressing the attack."

Turr Phennir raged at their inability to quickily counter the Rebel attacks but did his best to keep it from his features.

"Sir, the Destroyers report that their shields and even some weapons took heavy damage from the Mon Cal Cruiser's Torpedo attack."

The General frowned at that news. "Tell them to move in and start fighting their way through the main battle. Our ships that are engaged there won't last much longer without support and the _entire_ bombardment group is going to be cut off if they don't draw _some_ of the Rebel ships back."

"Aye sir!"

"What have we got left in the main battle?"

"Some of the light cruisers and support ships are still hanging on and two of the Destroyers that weren't damaged in the opening pass have been fighting non stop, but the Rebel cruisers are starting to concentrate on them."

"This is going to be close... any word from the Inquisitor?"

"None yet sir."

068


	69. Chapter 69

+++ 

The three Bothan Assault Cruisers and converted freighters pushed back a small pocket of Carrack Cruisers. One of the Star Destroyers caught in the middle of the battle was forced to fall back to the Carrack Cruisers as well. The small Strike Cruiser force approaching the Bombardment force decelerated and came about.

"Tyrranic to Destroyers and Strike Cruisers, concentrate fire forward. We're going to plough straight through that Rebel mess. Support ships do what you can to give us more cover."

The Star Destroyer's heavy Turbolaser turrets fired off one last volley aft before beginning a slow steady turn to point them forward. Within seconds the group closed to weapons range with the Rebel ships.

"All ships fire at will."

Turbolaser bolts flashed out striking the Rebel cruisers and a few lighter ships. The Bothan cruisers broke off their attacks on the light cruisers and Destroyer that had been pushed back putting more power to shields to survive the attacks. The Bothan ships were equipped with generators offering twice the protection of the old Victory Destroyers so they wouldn't go down easily.

"Increase speed, we won't be able to buy much time like this."

"We don't have the power to maintain weapons and the tractor locks if we increase speed sir."

"Redline the reactors if you have to. Find the power somewhere! We have to cut our way through to the command ships."

"Sir! Obliterator and Rebel support ships coming in on the flank of our group. They're trying to link up with the planetary forces."

"Kyp? Kyp come in." Octa had been trying to contact the Jedi ever since she'd felt something strange come through the Force focused in their area. She was beginning to suspect it had been focused on Kyp now. She could feel the red crackling anger that he normally gave off whenever he slipped back toward the Dark side but it was starting to grow more than normal.

Despite it all though the two Jedi pilots continued to burn through Imperial Starfighters, so Octa continued to shadow his movements. A Tie Avenger fired a concussion missile at Kyp's fighter nearly point blank before pulling up. Suddenly the missile acted as if it had bounced off a wall and flew back into the Tie's path, the explosion tearing off a wing array.

_That_ wasn't normal. She glanced down the her sensors and realised that they were starting to move towards the other side of the battle now. Towards where the other Jedi pilots were.

"Ramis to Horn, come in."

"Horn here, go-" Corran's voice cut off as he grunted through a turn tighter than his inertial compensator was designed for. "-ahead."

"There's something wrong with Kyp. He's not responding and it feels like he's slipping into some kind of Dark Side trance." Octa glanced back at the sensors again for a moment.

"He's also headed straight for you."

Corran knew that couldn't be good news. Kyp didn't get along with him that well on the best of days but years ago they had agreed to put their own feelings aside when it came to fighting the Imperials.

"Tyra, I'm your wing but try and keep us out of the worst of the fighting for a few seconds I need to try something."

"Gotcha."

"Kyp, respond." Corran commed, not really expecting a response.

Slipping his fighter slightly in behind Tyra's X-wing, Corran diverted more of his attention to searching out the battlefield with the Force.

The chaotic swirl of death filled more and more of space the farther he pushed his perceptions out until finally he felt the burning blazing comet that was Kyp. It left a path of destruction wherever it went and he could feel it's attention focusing in on him.

Near the edges of the Comet was the brightly burning speck that was Octa. Focusing more of his attention in on Kyp, blocking out as much of the battle as possible, he tried to find anything out of the ordinary. Anything besides Kyp turning into a giant engine of destruction that is.

He felt his X-wing shake from an explosion nearby, it had to have been a concussion missile, but otherwise ignored it. He tried nudging Kyp through the force but that only seemed to make him even angrier.

_Dammit Kyp I'm trying to help you!_

Something had to be feeding Kyp's anger or shielding him enough to prevent others from helping him... perhaps both.

Then he noticed it. Like a piece of thread floating in the breeze. As soon as he saw it, it disconnected from the tail of Kyp's comet and started to seemingly burn away like some minor burst of the other man's anger. As it faded however Corran saw that it seemed to pull back toward the Imperial command ships still hovering on the edge of the battle.

He moved his focus toward the largest groups of life forms in the battleground. He caught the same thread disappearing just as he looked over the ships. Everything between the two ships was quiet...

Corran opened his eyes and looked over at the sensors, zooming in on the enemy Command ships. In the space between the two Super Star Destroyers was a Mark Two ISD. It's turbolasers fired off a shot towards the Rebels at extreme range.

Far from quiet.

"Horn to all elite squadrons, designate ISDII... _High Order _as a priority target. There may be an Imperial Inquisitor on board."

Halmere withdrew from his trance and quickly shielded himself and as large a space he could manage from detection through the Force. He'd felt someone searching him out but he might have pulled back in time.

Nearly five full squadrons of Rebel fighters began to break off their current engagements and fight their way towards the Imperial command ships.

The Inquisitor swore.

069


	70. Chapter 70

-1

+++ 

The Venture, ISD Storm Harrow and both MC-90's once again found themselves maneuvering between the larger Imperial capital ships, space all around them filled with starfighters and freighters.

Defiance, finding herself hard pressed, unleashed her second last volley of Torpedoes into the bridge complex of a Destroyer. Secondary explosions ripped through the other ship's portside hull leaving her adrift. The Mon Cal cruiser then rolled to put her failing shields toward the crippled ship, allowing them time to recharge.

An explosion rocked the Starboard side of the Galactic Venture and then Booster suddenly found himself getting up off the floor of his bridge.

"What just hit us?"

"A Turbolaser barrage got through and hit a fuel storage tank in one of our Strike Cruiser hulls. Starboard Landing bays are out of commission."

"Get everyone out and seal it off."

The ship shook violently as another barrage ripped into the same sections already damaged by the explosion.

"Shields get something up to cover that."

Booster watched the sensors as smaller ships started to draw the attention of the Destroyer that had hit them.

"Helm, point us at the closest Destroyer in our forward arc, I want to get away from that one that was hitting us."

The ship started into a small turn and then began to accelerate. "Destroyer Trident dead ahead." Reported the helmsman.

The view screen at long last came online again showing the ship they were heading for. Straight as the Starboard profile of the target destroyer. The Trident fired a broadside into the Venture's bow and the ship shook.

"Prepare heavy turrets for forward fire. Helm, when weapons give the all clear bring the bow down."

The heavy topside turrets turned to point forward and charged to full power. A second Turbolaser volley hit the forward shields collapsing them.

"Weapons hot."

The helmsman brought the bow down five degrees giving a clear field of fire to the Turrets. The four Heavy Turbolaser turrets and two triple Ion Cannon turrets all fired at once striking the Destroyer's shields. The Venture's bow came back up just the other ship tried to train weapons on the turrets. Return fire struck the armoured bow plate. Whole sheet sections of metal boiled off into space from the laser hits.

"Fire the remaining rockets!" Shouted Booster over the scream of boiling metal carrying through the hull.

The forward bay doors dropped open and slightly more than a dozen Heavy Rockets flashed out. One Turbolaser beam aimed for the Rebel capital ship struck one of the missiles but the rest didn't encounter any resistance until they hit shields. The wave of missiles detonated simultaneously, none of them making it through to the hull but pouring all of their damage into the Destroyer's shields. The Starboard shields crumbled away.

"Bow shields back online!" Reported operations just before another hit rocked the ship. The same man sighed. "Bow shields down again."

The Tie clutch Squadron that had stayed near the Venture began strafing the exposed weapons on the Imperial ship.

"Helm, bring us up and over Trident. Operations, put all shield power to Port. After we begin our climb roll us... 50 degrees."

Starfighters began pouring laser and Ion cannon shots into the Trident's Heavy turrets. One Clutch dodged the wrong way and was blown apart by a stray Turbolaser bolt. A Tie Interceptor squadron hid from the Venture's quad laser cannons behind their carrier, striking at any Clutch that came near enough.

Venture's Bow came up and over the top of the Destroyer, her starboard shields now holding against the weakening return fire. As the Modified super freighter rolled her topside heavy turrets came into line with the other ship's exposed hull. All six turrets fired into the base of Trident's bride tower, Heavy Ion bolts cutting off the ship's command and control. The next barrage cut into the Destroyer's remaining weapons.

A converted Sorro Subb Ferryboat caught up to the battle and fired her bow ion cannons into the Destroyer's belly, sparing her laser cannon and Quad lasers to chase off the remaining Interceptor squadron.

Even as the light from the Imperial Destroyer's engines flickered out the ship's Portside weapons continued firing at smaller Rebel ships that were nearby. It took the Venture's gunners another four Turbolaser barrages to drill through the primary power conduits cutting the last power to that side of ship.

A short distance away another Star Destroyer slipped through the Rebel formations, blasting apart a C3 passenger liner. It wasn't the only one to make it through the fighting. Several others either linked up with the Bombardment force survivors cutting their way through, or made it to the relatively safe zone created by the long range guns of the Super Star Destroyers.

Booster took a moment to breathe, wipe away the sweat on his brow and look at the screens.

"Begin a full restart on all shield generators. Helm, give us a course to intercept any smaller Imp ships then bring us in on the Imperial Bombardment force."

The Venture began to turn away from the crippled and drifting Trident.

"And find some of our starfighters in this mess. We're going to need the cover."

On the displays one of the Bothan Cruisers and an Imperial class ship both exploded.

070


	71. Chapter 71

+++ 

Corran and Tyra flashed through the clouds of Tie's and battling starfighters filling space between the heavier capital ships. The Imperials still held the advantage in numbers but the light freighters and blastboats converted with additional laser turrets were keeping things on a roughly equal footing. Behind them, despite all their efforts, Kyp was still closing in.

The Wraiths in their slightly faster Ties had been able to catch up to the two Jedi while CorSec squadron held off just behind Kyp's position. The other three XJ squadrons were moving to join them just on the edge of torpedo range for the three Imperial command ships.

Face's voice came in over the com. "Wraith Leader to Elite units. I'm detecting a strong force of Ties protecting the Imperial command ships; Two squadrons of Defenders and eight of Tie Gauntlets. A mix of the Gauntlets look to have shields. High Order has a small screen of Assault Gunboats."

"This is Gold Leader. Suggest we try to save countermeasures for fighting the Defenders and Gauntlets. We've seen those things go missile happy before."

Double clicks came back across the Com from squadron leaders as they acknowledged the suggestion.

The Wraiths edged around a lone Star Galleon and began their run in on the larger ships. The remaining squadrons edged into position alongside them seconds later. Kyp still hadn't closed enough to get a solid lock on the lead fighters yet.

The newer model Assault Gunboats formed up to slow the incoming assault. Off to the sides the Tie squadrons protecting the Super Star Destroyers began to form into attack wings and angle in toward the center. The Gunboats opened fire with lasers and Ion cannons. The X-wings either looped and dodged their fire or took hits to shields then returned their own laser and concussion missile fire. The tough shields on the Imperial craft held up well and only a few exploded.

X-wings flashed past still at full throttle. Asyr's voice came over the Com. "Red leader to all X-wings, prepare to fire torpedoes on my mark."

The Bothan had lost the least time dodging the Gunboat fire and would be the first to lock weapons on the Destroyer. "Transmitting telemetry... Double torpedo lock... Fire! Fire! Fire!"

A full seventy Proton Torpedoes, all riding blue flames, flew in towards High Order. The ship's Turbolasers had been holding fire, gunnery crews anticipating a missile barrage, and they now opened up on the incoming warheads. Some fifteen or so detonated in ball explosions when they were intercepted by laser fire but the rest hit in a wave. The first thirty or so piled into the shields knocking down the energy defences.

More than twenty Torps ripped into the topside hull of the Destroyer, cratering the hull and tossing debris into space. A secondary explosion lit up the ship's superstructure but failed to cause any more damage. The X-wings quickly closed to laser range and began pounding the weapons on the ship's surface.

Corran walked single fire laser bursts up the ship's midline then fired a Torpedo at the bridge. Before the missile could strike the bridge a damaged section or armour plate ripped free of the Destroyer and flew into it's path. The back blast from the explosion blinded sensors for a fraction of a second. The armour plate had been completely blown apart by the torpedo blast. As he started to come about for another pass, more pieces of debris began to lift from the hull.

"Active debris!" someone shouted over the com.

A chunk suddenly turned and flew straight for Corran's fighter. A quad laser burst from one of the Wraith's Defender's blew it into smaller pieces which bounced off his shields.

Tyra cut in front of him, blasting armour pieces as they looped in towards the Destroyer again. "Corran, let me know when to get out of the way. Kyp has nearly caught up."

The Corellian could feel the Inquisitor now, starting to use the force to move debris into a swirling storm that would sweep away the Rebel fighters if given enough time.

He wasn't going to get it.

Tyra battered and blasted a path through the growing storm with Corran in just behind her. One large piece sheared through her shields and cleaved off a laser cannon. "Tyra, fire your torpedoes, then break."

The other Jedi did as told, firing and pulling away. Once she was clear Corran fired his own torpedoes and reached out towards the enemy force user. Tyra's torpedoes struck debris and exploded. Watching it Corran did his best to copy the image of the dual explosion when another piece of debris swept in towards his missiles. He pushed the image towards and into the other force user's mind with all of the strength he had left.

The debris didn't continue to adjust it's arc and missed the weapons.

Both Torps struck the hull where the bridge tower met the Destroyer's main hull.

Halmere saw the torpedoes detonate but knew that couldn't be right. He shook off the mind trick that had momentarily addled him. He found the bright highly explosive specs that were the target missiles in the force just before they hit the hull.

The explosion was close enough to his meditation chambers that little of the shockwave was dampened. He was thrown to the opposite side of the chamber. Unable to get an arm in place soon enough his head struck the wall.

Kyp came to his senses as he saw a quad burst that had to be his glance off the shields of another X-wing. One of the laser bolts made it through and burned a hole in one of the wings.

"Why the hell am I attacking another X-wing?" He wondered allowed.

He remembered something about having a conversation with someone, they'd been discussing greater control of the Force and who would know more about it but could remember little else.

He keyed his com. "This is Kyp. Sorry, to whoever I just clipped with my lasers."

"Kyp! You're back!" came Octa's voice, at the same time nudging him through the force. "That was Corran you were attacking."

"Ok, I'm not _too_ sorry then but what's going on?"

"There was an Imperial Inquisitor trying to manipulate you. It looks like we took him out though. Now we've got Advanced Ties coming at us from all directions."

Kyp Glanced at his screens and saw Defenders and Gauntlet's everywhere with Super Star Destroyers to either side of them. The huge ships began to open fire with Concussion Missiles and carefully placed Turbolaser shots.

"Sithspit!"

071


	72. Chapter 72

+++ 

Kre'fey hauled himself upright then braced against a console as the Ralroost was hit by yet another burst of Turbolaser fire. One of the bridge officers used an emergency extinguisher on some paneling that had caught fire. The floor lurched under him with another hit as the Admiral made his way back to the holo display. He looked at the display just in time to see the nearly two wings of advanced Ties crash into the X-wing's battling in between the enemy Command ships.

"Com, get Voyager and Defiance to pair up and start slugging the SSD farthest away from the planet. I want ships supporting them. When they get within range they're to overlap shields. Designate that ship a priority target for any fighter with remaining missiles. After that tell Nunb to accelerate. She's got to overtake those Destroyers soon."

One last powerful hit rocked the ship and then the number of hits Ralroost was taking diminished.

"Turbolasers four and ten have been hit!"

"What's drawing the Imperial fire?"

Kre'fey panned the holo display around until he caught sight of the Venture angling to cut across their bow. The Smuggler warship had taken some heavy hits and her bow was a mass of melted Durasteel. She changed her angle of attack slightly enough to allow her heavy turrets to fire and then resumed course after firing.

A determined squadron of Tie Bombers was trying to make torpedo runs against her heavy guns but were kept away by a dozen T-wings.

"Helm bring us alongside Venture as she starts to cross our current course."

Aril Nunb's Victory Destroyer force tried yet again to get past the disabled ships under tow and attack the Imperial bombardment force. After a few shots against the aft shields of the larger ships, the Strike cruisers that had been escorting them dropped back to confront the Rebels.

"Those Strike Cruisers don't stand a chance but it's going to buy time for the Destroyers that are running."

Another Imperial Destroyer not part of the Bombardment group changed course to help cut off the three Rebel Vic's.

"Damn."

Ralroost began her turn to come along side Galactic Venture then. The two of them headed for more of the heavy ships that had formed up on the flanks of the bombardment group. Slightly above, the already damaged Obliterator continued to trade broadsides with the other ships. If it hadn't been for the light freighters weaving in and out of the heaviest fighting the Rebel fleet would have long been defeated.

A pair of A-wings flashed past Ralroost's bridge and into the huge Tie melee still taking place. Ralroost and Venture joined up with Obliterator in the slugging match.

+++ 

Phennir shook his head as he looked over the displays. "Com, tell the Destroyer Captains not part of the bombardment force to use their own discretion. It's nearly impossible to tell what's going on in that mess."

The General looked out the forward viewport and watched the expanding starfighter battle between the elite units of both sides. The Inquisitor appeared to be dead through no fault but his own. Now it was up to him to deal with the Rebels. "If only it wasn't for those blasted Jedi pilots I might take my own personal fighter out." he muttered.

Out in space several of the X-wings came about and fired Torpedoes at nearly the exact same time. The blue tailed weapons streaked in at the bow of his ship.

The sensors officer's head snapped up. "Incoming Torps, thirty plus!"

"Brace." Phennir said calmly but loudly as he grabbed a hand hold. The impacts shook the bridge slightly even five kilometres away, but failed to penetrate the shields.

The X-wings had resumed their fight against the Ties as soon as their Torpedoes were away.

"They can't have many more torpedoes left. Activate Tractor beams, see if you can get a lock on any of the Jedi pilots. Don't drag them aboard, just hold them so the Turbolasers can hit them."

"Aye sir," responded the tractor officer.

Sensors spoke up next. "Sir, the Mon Cal Heavy Cruisers are accelerating towards our position."

"Weapons, destroy those bothersome ships."

"They're coming on from dead ahead sir, we can only bring a fraction of our weapons to bear." explained the weapons officer.

Sensors also spoke up. "Sir the two ships are starting to move in concert. They're overlapping forward shields."

"No, no, no."

Turbolaser fire glanced off of the heavy overlapping shields of the two Mon Cal Cruisers. A group of smaller support ships clustered around their aft, protecting them while all of their shields were pointed forward.

Small numbers of modified Z-95's and Tie Clutch were starting to take up positions supporting the ships. The heavy ship pair began their barrage then added their last Torpedo salvo to it after a few seconds.

"Incoming Torpedo barrage."

"Emergency power to forward shields!"

The warheads struck the already weekend shields, the explosions lighting up the bow in silhouette. The bridge shook, though not as violently as the General might have imagined. The display screen lit up showing red for the forward shields and parts of the starboard.

Turr Phennir had to shout to be heard over damage reports coming in from the bow sections. "Helm, hard to starboard. Com, get Anguish to come across and cover our flank while we re-establish shields."

"Incoming Torpedoes from the other X-wings... It's an indirect spread, not specifically targeting anything."

The bridge shook more violently as missiles struck the shields much closer to the ship's command center.

072


	73. Chapter 73

+++ 

Four Jedi pilots working in concert cut a path through the Imperial fighters and toward the Imperial Command ship. The Rebel Elite squadrons were taking losses fighting the Imperial advanced Ties but it seemed that most of the pilots on both sides were spending more time dodging than killing.

Corran, out of torpedoes and missiles began transmitting missile lock data to other Rebel ships and fighters. A handfull of A-wings and some EZ-95 Uglies fired their last concussion missiles from maximum range. The missiles hit the starboard shields of the damaged Super Star Destroyer as it began it's turn. Meanwhile the Corvette _Flight Stream_ edged toward the outer sections of the battle and began to launch it's heavy rockets.

+++ 

Blade of the Empire was finally far enough into her turn that the portside batteries had a clear field of fire. The deck plating under turr Phennir's feet vibrated slightly as every weapon emplacement on the port side of his ship fired simultaniously. The barrage struck the re-enforced shields that the Mon Cal cruisers were putting up, turning the energy defenses a bright green. The MC-90's ceased firing their turbolasers for a few heartbeats as they sent more power to shore up the shields.

"Weapons, use the concussion missile batteries to keep the starfighters away if you can."

The General looked over the displays. Things were looking pooly.

While the Imperial fleet had still lost very few Destroyers, most of the smaller support ships were drifting hulks. Except for a few places anti-starfighter cover was drying up and would soon leave more ships vulnerable. The converted freighters were concentrating their attention on the mainstay of the Imperial fleet, but almost a third of the Rebel fighters were starting to break free of the starfighter duels that had held them since the opening shots. Something on the order of five squadrons of Rebel starfighters were already making their way toward the command ships.

Anguish was starting to move in to cover his ship's flank but he knew it would still take a few minutes. The bridge shook from new impacts as explosions blossomed on the Port side shields.

"Report on those explosions." He asked as the portside guns fired again.

"Heavy missiles sir. They're being launched from a corvette on the far side of the battle. We don't have anything free in that area to attack it."

The bridge shook as more missile and turbolaser fire struck the Port side.

"Increase power to the portside shields and try to repair the forward ones."

A pair of X-wings flashed past above the bridge, continuiously firing into the Dorsal shields. A flight of A-wings streaked in from near the Mon Cal cruisers using turbolaser fire for cover, also firing non-stop.

"Flight Control, where is our starfighter cover?!"

"They're too heavily engaged with the Rebel Elite squadrons sir!"

Another rocket exploded and the portside shield indicator went from green to yellow. The Forward shields still wern't up yet. Some of the Turbolasers were attempting to track the Rebel fighters that the Missiles couldn't hit instead of concentrating on the captial ships. The two Mon Cal Heavies at last dragged enough power out of their reactors to fire another full turbolaser volley.

His command ship was being endangered, and the Imperial forces needed to regroup, repair and re-equip with starfighters.

"Com... issue orders to withdraw from battle."

"...Sir?" Asked the Com officer?

Phennir lifted his comlink to his lips and triggered it.

"This is General Turr Phennir. All Imperial capital ships and vehicles are to make best possible speed to rally point Delta and prepare to jump to hyperspace. _Blade_ and _Anguish _will cover the rear guard action. All available Droid fighters remaining will immediately begin screening actions for both Super Star Destroyers."

The general lowered his com and went back to watching the battle through the viewports.

"This is just a temporary setback. I mean to keep it that way."

Out in space some four full squadrons of Rebel fighters broke upon the ship's port side like a wave.

+++ 

Captain Nalgol heard the order but didn't want to believe it. He'd already fled from the system once before and now again?!

"Helm what's currently our best possible speed to Rally point Delta?"

The Helmsman looked up from the crewpit.

"Fifteen minutes sir if we continue towing."

The sensors officer looked up. "Dreadnaughts launching from the planet's surface."

"We'll be left behind if we try to bring the Vic's along any farther."

Nalgol looked over the sensor screens at some of the Rebel ships still taking cover behind the towed ships.

"Com issue orders to those Destroyers with Vic's under tow. Reverse beams and push the Vic's back at the Rebels hiding behind them. That should buy us time to get away."

+++ 

Kre'fey was watching the sensor screens when the disabled Victory Destroyers suddenly began to reverse direction.

"What are they... oh no." He lifted his comlink. "Kre'fey to bombardment persuit ships, begin emergency maneuvers. Change course to avoid the Victory Destroyers!"

A corvette and a modular transport were both too slow to get out of the way and were crushed by the drive sections of the Victory Destroyers. The atmosphereic stabilizers on Arril Nunb's ship caught and were torn completely away when they scraped against the gunwells on a Vic's Starboard side. Nunb's wounded Destroyer spun, nearly out of control, and fired a broadside into the aft shields of the fleeing Imperial Destroyers.

"Sir." Called the Ralroost's sensor operator. "All Imperial ships are making best possible speed for a point just past their command ships. They've ceased all towing operations."

"What are their starfighters doing?"

"Enemy droid starfighters remaining are converging on their command ship, all others are taking up escort roles for the Destroyers."

"Good. All available ships, concentrate fire on the Super Star Destroyers, they'll take longer to jump away."

+++ 

Phennir watched the sensor screens as the confused melee became an equally confused attempt by both sides to score parting hits. The remaining I-7 Howlrunners and droidfighters swept past the bridge and engaged the growing numbers of Rebel fighters attacking his ship.

Anguish had at last closed enough to intercept fire from the Mon Cal cruisers. The two ships were now putting out very little fire but they did act as a point for more arriving Rebel ships to rally arround. Smaller Rebel gunboats and fighters were starting to strafe the other SSD as they made for Blade.

The bow shields were still down and some of the Turbolaser turrets were beginning to take hits. It was a miracle that none of the Rebel starfighters had gotten under the shields. Not long after he though that, Phennir spotted an A-wing speeding towards the bridge just above hull level but below the shields.

"Increase power to bridge deflectors!"

"A-aye sir!"

A pair of X-wings chose that moment to finish blasting apart one of the sensor domes above the bridge. The resulting explosion dropped the bridge shields by more than half. The A-wing fired a pair of concussion missiles and pulled out, but before it could strike the outer layer of transparisteel the warheads impacted the still operating shields.

The shield indicator for the bridge continued to flicker for a moment then came back up to full.

"Operations, status of the shields."

"We had to drop power for the port and starboard shields to save the bridge but we should have those back up at about half power in a minute sir."

"Good job. Now let's get this fleet out of here before the Rebels really decide they want us to stay."

073


	74. Chapter 74

-1

+++ 

Galactic Venture fired her heavy turrets one last time before the Imperial class Star Destroyers could get out of range. The burned remains of destroyed hull plates still drifted away from the Smuggler Warship, even though she was no longer taking hits. The Tie Bomber squadron that had been harassing the ship had gotten a few torpedoes through and damaged one of the turrets.

The old Corellian picked up his comlink.

"Booster to Krefey, we can't get enough speed up to stay with you."

The Bothan's voice came back with barely a moment's delay. "Don't bother Booster, we're going to have to break off pursuit before they jump. If you have any Tractor beams left help get those enemy Vic's under tow. I don't want them falling out of orbit."

"We've got enough to do some work still. I'll have my remaining fighters pile into that mess the Imperials call a fleet. Booster out."

Booster looked over to his starfighter co-ordinator. "Well, what are you waiting for? I want our people to get in some parting shots."

+++ 

An old style Tie Starfighter with rebel markings trailed flame as it plunged down into the shields of the SSD Anguish. Face snapped off a shot at the Interceptor that had hit the Rebel fighter but it dodged at the last second.

Elassar Targon, flying a Tie Hunter blew through that same Interceptor then linked up with Wraith leader.

"Eleven here, it looks like the advanced ties are grouping near the landing bays."

"That makes sense." responded Face. "Not all of their advanced fighters will be equipped with hyperdrives."

A pair of XJ's with gold squadron markings came streaking around the edge of the Destroyer with a flight of Tie Defenders in pursuit.

"This is gold leader, could use some help."

Face checked his screens then issued orders. "Wraiths three, and five make for Gold Leader's position. Eleven, you're with me."

As the four rebel ties closed on the X-wing pair the Defenders launched their remaining missiles. Peshk still had enough countermeasures left over to protect his fighter but his wingman didn't. Three concussion missiles blew through shields and the aft fuselage exploded.

Before the Wraiths could close to Weapons range the Defenders turned and fled back toward the landing bays. Not all of the Wraiths fighters were fast enough to keep up and if they did pursue they'd find a squadron or more of Tie Gauntlets waiting for them.

"Don't pursue. Form on Gold Leader."

The Five fighters flew out to a safe distance from the SSD while ignoring the Turbolaser fire then linked up with a mixed fighter force preparing to strafe the same ship.

All the while, Imperial class Star Destroyers overtook the two larger command ships and began jumping to hyperspace. The mixed fighter force encountered some droid starfighters before they made their pass but otherwise encountered little resistance.

Lasers and even some missiles impacted the still whole shields on Anguish as the fighter group attempted to hit the bridge tower. The rebel fighters were preparing for a second pass when the SSD jumped to hyperspace. A trio of Star Destroyers jumped a moment later leaving less than a handful of still operational ships behind.

The last ship, a damaged Nebulon B frigate, exploded not long after when a converted passenger liner fired on it's damaged sublight drives.

For a minute or two there was nearly complete com silence as the last few droid fighters and manned Ties were shot down.

An exhausted sounding voice came over the com not long after.

"This is Admiral Kre'fey to all rebel ships... begin recovery operations."

074


	75. Chapter 75

-1

+++

_Blade of the Empire_ and her sister ship _Anguish_ reverted to realspace a safe distance outside of Bothan Space. Turr Phennir turned from the viewports to face his bridge crew. Most looked away to other tasks as he turned.

"Navigator, plot a course for the nearest Imperial held sector capital. Communications, I want reports on what of our forces are left and then transmit the co-ordinates that the navigator will supply you with."

The General's aid walked over with a datapad. "The Damage reports sir."

"Unless any of them concern the Hyperdrives I'll look over them later. We need to organise our starfighter squadrons. Once we're back in command of a resupplied fleet I want to begin staging starfighter raids against the Rebels."

The Destroyer began it's run up to hyperspace and the General paused to allow the distracting lightshow time to finish.

"Sir, staging starfighter raids against the Rebel positions will require large numbers of advanced Starfighters. I'm not certain we can requisition that many."

Phennir nodded. "We'll use a few of the Destroyers and Carriers to jump in and deploy a squadron or two of starfighters in different places where hyperdrive equipped models arn't available. Mostly I intend to use these new Tie Gauntlet starfighters. They can carry a hyperdrive and any number of weapons based on mission and by themselves are cheaper than Tie Bombers."

The Aid called up the new information on number of remaining squadrons. "We do have some newer model Tie Bombers left over sir. Their shields were strong enough to see them through the worst of the fighting."

"This could work." Phennir decided at length. "The only real problem we'll have is dealing with the Sector Moff upon our arrival."

His Aid looked over. "We have two Super Star Destroyers sir. In a worse case scenario we could threaten his capital with bombardment if he doesn't supply us."

Phennir laughed at the thought of threatening a desk bound Moff in such a way. Most of the sector Moff's he'd met over the years were incompetent men, kept in their postition by the considerably more resourceful Navy officers that surrounded them. It was a good thing the Emperor still ruled and always would Phennir decided, or a great many Moffs would be killed off as the Navy men tried to Usurp their power likely turning the Galaxy to Warlordism. Yes, it was a good thing indeed. 

075

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

The only purpose of this section was to assure the many pro-Imperial fans of mine that the Rebel Victory at Bothawui was hardly crippling to the Empire as a whole. Several seemed to think it was 'OH NO EMPIRE IS DOOMED!' 


	76. Chapter 76

+++

Jag Fel Looked out the viewports from the crew support sections of the Leviathan class mobile manufacturing base. The Ardent was nearly finished repairs after close to three weeks and the starfighter squadrons had nearly been rebuilt. He'd spent most of those weeks training new pilots about fighting Vong and was confident that some of his pilots would make it through their first engagement.

The Fleet that Admiral Dorja had been given command of had arrived three days earlier, nearly doubling his training schedule. At the moment though he was waiting for the Admiral to arrive for a briefing along with several other officers. Wing Commanders and Captains from the other Destroyers and ships were present, crammed into the slightly too small briefing room.

The doors hissed open and Admiral Dorja swept into the room at a speed normally reserved for younger men.

"Let's get straight down to it Gentlemen. The Emperor has just declared that the Empire is in a state of full scale war. Widespread Conscription has not yet been implemented but all reserves are being mobilized and fleet assets brought to full operational status."

The Admiral sat heavily in his chair at the head of the table.

"Rebellious elements have taken full advantage of the situation and -in combination with this new alien menace- we are in danger of losing the entire Outer Rim Territories."

Dorja pulled out his datapad and uploaded files to the holoprojector built into the table.

"We're parked out here as part of a first stage plan to flank the enemy invasion. We'll be proceeding down the Hydian Way and setting up interdictor checkpoints here, here and here." He pointed to a spot on the map as each lit up.

"Once the checkpoints are in place the remaining ships in our group will proceed to the Corporate sector to investigate the positions there. Hopefully we'll be able to rally any Imperial assets in the sector. Once that is completed we'll escort any Imperial citizens back to the Mid Rim. Any questions?"

The captain of one of the interdictors raised a hand. "Sir will the ships interdicting the Hydian Way have enough support to survive an attack by the aliens with the number of ships present?"

"Additional fleet resources are already on their way out from the core regions. More ships will be assigned to protect each checkpoint as they arrive. Make no mistake, these checkpoints are vital to the evacuation of whole civilian populations from the invasion corridor. Admiral Burgan's fleet is at this moment scouring the edges of the Invasion zone and pulling civilians out."

There were no other questions but he felt that he'd give the Drag-ship drivers a little bit of hope.

"While we're here I wanted to confirm a rumour that Rancor Fleet Base is back at full operational status. Iron Fist should be starting patrols in the surrounding areas within with the next few weeks. No, I can't confirm at this time weather Zsinj has come out of retirement. He has made available to us several contacts in the Corporate Sector that can provide us with information once we get there."

Everyone seemed satisfied with the news so Dorja decided to finish things up so they could get back to work.

"We're moving out at 1300 hours tomorrow. Everyone is dismissed. Get to work."

076

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

_Finally back to the Ardent again. Time to get things rolling._


	77. Chapter 77

-1

+++

Hyperspace streamed past the false viewports that were projected onto the walls showing space outside the ship. Dorja leaned over the planning table in the conference room located several decks below the bridge. He repeatedly tapped an icon on the map representing the last Interdictor enforced checkpoint the fleet had established. All had been deployed without incident and had right away started pulling civilian ships from hyperspace.

The ships maintaining the checkpoints had been ordered to render as much medical assistance to civilians as possible. In most cases the medics would really be checking for signs of Viruses or Alien infiltrators. While the Civilians at Garqi had apparently been altered under controlled circumstances they couldn't rule out that the invaders might try to infect a large population to cause more problems.

Colonel Fel walked in with his Tie Pilot's helmet under one arm. He noticed the Admiral's concentration. "Worried about leaving so few ships at the checkpoints sir?"

Dorja shook himself out of his daze. "Not worried by it per-se Colonel, but I am somewhat bothered by it."

Jag nodded believing he understood what the Admiral meant but not commenting on if further. Dorja chose to break the silence before it started to drag.

"We passed out of hypercom range from the Fleet's transmitter ships an hour ago now. We're back into the void again it seems. I want our pilots as rested as possible from now on but keep up the simulation runs. How are the new pilots doing by the way?"

"The current Simulation results are what I would still deem unsatisfactory, especially for the sort of extended mission we're looking at."

He handed the Admiral a datapad. The older man scrolled through the figures and frowned heavily.

"You're quite right, these are unacceptable losses. Sixty percent in the first engagement and it only gets worse as we lose our fighter cover... damn."

He handed the pad back to Fel.

"I have been able to pick out a core group of Pilots that have the skills to make it through Sir. I've moved them over to our heavier fighters in the hopes of keeping them alive longer. Most of the lesser skilled pilots are only a few months out of the academies. With some more time I believe better than half of them will come up to the levels we need."

"Always a matter of how much time we have isn't it?"

"Yes sir. All of our active squadrons are now arranged into shield groups. It's still proving to be the most effective combination in simulators."

Dorja nodded an downed a glass of water he'd been keeping nearby. "If any of your pilots have more suggestions about tactics to use against these Vong I want to hear them. Don't bother screening them I want as many ideas as possible. I've got Commander Taulen talking to the Gunnery crews and his Stormtroopers."

"Understood. If there's anything else sir?"

"No that's all Colonel, dismissed."

"Sir." Jag saluted and marched towards the door.

"Colonel."

Jag stopped. "Sir?"

"Keep up the good work. I'll see you make General by the end of the year.

Once the door had closed behind Jag, Dorja called up the Ardent's biohazard containment protocols and started looking for weaknesses in the system.

"If these Vong like to use bio weapons they're not taking my ship by surprise."

+++

_I'll see you make General by the end of the year. _

_General by the end of the year..._

_General by the end of the year..._

The words echoed through Jag's head.

Surely he'd always wanted to attain a high rank at some point, but the casualties bound to be suffered in that time were likely to be staggering. There was no way to be certain he wouldn't be one of them. Without any real way of controlling that though he resolved to do the best he could with the situation as always. If he happened to survive or die so be it. He'd faced death before, now with this mission it was time to willingly walk into it's clutches and hope for the best.

077


	78. Chapter 78

+++

"Time to destination?" Asked Dorja as he strode onto the bridge.

The navigator looked up from the crew pit. "We will be reverting to realspace in the Dal-porath system in approximately eight minutes sir."

"Good. Commander Wintle, all hands to ready stations."

"Aye sir!"

The young commander's voice soon blared over the ship's com, preparing the thousands strong crew for the possibility of battle. Some of the crew had been rotated out during their short period of repair but most of the crew were still veterans, hardened by their flight from the Vong.

Wintle returned to the Admiral's side. "All stations reporting ready sir."

"I gave my word that we would come back to this mining colony, and if we needed more reason than that there's still loyal Imperial troops in the system."

"You don't need to convince me of that sir. Right to Rule's crew had as much experience fighting the Vong as we did. They'll certainly be welcome in the fleet."

Dorja smirked at the younger man. "Our orders were to make our way to the Corporate Sector and we are. This is just a minor detour. With the added benefits you already mentioned. If luck is with us we wont have any Imperial Inquisitors questioning my re-interpretation of orders when we get back."

+++

The Fleet reverted to realspace, Nine light Cruisers, Three Imperial class ships and a pair of Victory Destroyers. Two Squadrons of Assault Gunboats formed up with the Carrack Cruisers to create a picket line.

"Sensor contacts, both Civilian and Vong contacts detected."

"Put it up."

The system tactical overlay appeared on the holodisplay. Dozens of civilian ships were streaming away from Dal-porath Colony one escorted by two larger contacts. IFF quickly identified them as the Civilian liner Twilight Wanderer and the Mercenary Cruiser Paragon. Not so far behind them flames burned where atmosphere still vented into space from the destroyed asteroid colony.

"Launch fighters and hail Twilight Wanderer."

Tie starfighters swarmed from the Destroyer launch bays forming up into shield groups. Last out of the Ardent's launch bays was a full squadron of Cygnus built Delta-class Escort Shuttles. Since the Ardent had been stripped of her AT-AT contingent the Admiral had insisted that the extra space be converted to carry additional vehicles for space combat. Although nearly as slow as the old Rebel Y-wings they had powerful shields and an aft Turbolaser turret.

"Dorja to Fel."

"Go ahead Admiral."

"Colonel I want you to take Ardent's wing in to escort those Civilians, the rest of our fighters will protect our fleet as we move to intercept."

After breaking off communications Jag lead the Ardent's six squadrons around the picket line and out toward the Civilian fleet.

After another few minutes the Admiral's holo display activated showing the face of Cheyden Graal, former Captain of the Destroyer Right to Rule.

"Captain Graal, it's good to see you're still alive after all these days."

"Just barely Admiral. The aliens have been raiding through the asteroids for the past few weeks with just a small force wearing us down. A couple of Frigates including the one we originally chased off joined them a couple of days ago."

The Admiral turned away from the display screen for a moment. "Sensors, do you have the positions of both enemy Frigates?"

"Yes sir, but we're having some trouble pinning down all of the corvettes. They're moving in and out of the asteroids."

"Keep on them and transmit sensor Data to our fighters and the Civie capital ships."

"Aye."

Dorja turned back to the holodisplay. "Captain, we're going to escort these civilians out of here but we cant be going out of our way too much. Any word from Topwrawa?"

"One of the transport groups made it back from there before the frigates showed up and cut us off. It was still in Imperial hands."

The image shook and Graal glanced off to the side for a moment. "Just fire from one of the shards. Our shields can handle it."

"Captain once my advance starfighter forces reach you and clear away enemy fighters I want you to bring your fleet around on an outbound vector for Topwrawa."

+++

"Remember, one shield group per enemy fighter." reminded Jag as they screamed in on the civilian formation. Around the transports he could see flashes of weapons fire as the remaining uglies dueled close to two full squadron of Shards. Those few civilian ships with weapons added what fire they could to distract the Vong fighters. At the back of the formation the two larger ships continuously fired Turbolasers to keep the Frigate and Corvette analogs at range.

"Break by flights on my mark."

The range counter displaying distance to the leading civilian ships scrolled down. At nearly point blank he called out. "Break!"

The Imperial fighters flashed past just above the shields and hulls of the transports. The first few shards didn't even know what hit them. Laser fire from Jag and his three wing mates all converged on a single enemy fighter overwhelming it's defences before it had a chance to dodge. Four enemy markers disappeared from the sensor screen.

The Tie Defenders, faster than either the Interceptors or the Gauntlets, raced ahead pounding on more of the enemy fighters with lasers and concussion missiles. One shard whipped around a light freighter and fired it's plasma cannon at a nearby Defender flight. Those Defenders broke formation to attack the shard from different angles, a good idea normally but it left them without the benefit of proper wing mate cover.

Soon after the targeted shard exploded under the concentrated fire, three more Vong fighters arced in at one of the lone Defenders. In unison the shards closed and fired. Just before their plasma hit, the Tie's shields failed. An Imperial marker winked off the display.

"One flight, fire missiles." Matching words to actions Jag flipped the targeting over to concussion missiles and fired when he had a lock. He switched to the second fighter and fired again. Four pairs of missiles streaked out and exploded as the proximity sensors showed they were about to be pulled into a singularity. Overwhelmed by the explosions the singularities winked out. Laser fire from Jag's flight and the three Tie Defenders that had gone evasive struck the coral hulls of two of the fighters while the third looped away and fled.

Jag activated the com. "Fel to Defender squadrons, maintain your shield groups."

Around them most of the surviving shards were fleeing, more than half of them had been destroyed by the fast attack.

078


	79. Chapter 79

+++

"We lost one Tie Defender but other than that it's fairly minor vehicle damage. One Gauntlet and an Interceptor though will need some repairs before they go back into combat." reported Jag.

"Good work Colonel, we'll be in position to escort the civilians in another few minutes. I want you to concentrate your fighters towards the rear of the formation once we form up. We'll need a few more minutes then to get the civilian ships ready to jump."

"Understood Admiral."

As the Imperial ships closed with the civilian convoy they came about and reversed course, countering the acceleration they'd built up. The Ardent and the other Imperial class Destroyers formed a triangle around the rear most sections of the group, while the Victory Destroyers and Carrack Cruisers took up flanking positions.

Back toward the destroyed mining colony the surviving Vong ships and fighters formed up again. The Corvette Analogs broke off and accelerated, sweeping out and around the Destroyers guarding the rear of the formation, careful to stay clear of their heavy guns.

Dorja studied the sensor readout closely. "Sensors, keep an eye on those Frigates they may try something while the Corvettes distract us. Gunnery, target those corvettes at maximum range. If they come in at us I want them worn down a bit first."

The Commander approached. "Admiral most of the civilian ships report ready to jump but some are having trouble with their hyperdrives because of the attacks."

"Which ones?"

Wintle held up a list. 

"A few of the smaller ones we can just tractor into our main bay, but that heavy Ore freighter it far too big. How many aboard?" asked Dorja.

"Close to ten thousand sir."

The Admiral shook his head. "Too many to offload. It could take us a couple of hours. The civilian fleet jumps in five minutes Commander, if they haven't repaired their hyperdrives within ten minutes after that we're leaving them behind."

"Aye sir."

+++

Jag watched the sensors and through his cockpit canopy as the leading ships from the civilian formation began to enter hyperspace. On the fleet's left flank five Vong Corvette Analogs sped in at them to attack. The Admiral's voice soon came over a wideband channel.

"All fighters go evasive if you need to but do not engage the Corvette Analogs, leave them to the capital ships. We begin recovering fighters in three minutes."

Three Carrack cruisers and a Victory Destroyer began firing Turbolasers at maximum range and before long two of the ISD's added fire as well. The small capital ships used their superior speed to dodge much of the cannon fire and the occasional void soaked off what would have struck. Ion bolts skittered uselessly over the hulls of the ships. All five ships fired their plasma weapons at one of the Carrack Cruisers and fire blossomed on the protective energy sphere of their shields.

After that the corvettes broke off, each heading in a different direction, but they kept firing into the diminishing convoy. More than half the convoy had jumped away by now and both Victory class ships at the head of the convoy soon jumped away as well.

Commander Wintle's voice came over the com. "Ardent to all hyperspace capable fighters, we are transmitting jump co-ordinates for Topwrawa to you now. All non hyperspace capable Ties begin recovery."

Jag boosted power to his engines then hit the Com for his wing. "You heard the Commander, Gauntlets, Interceptors, load up."

On Jag's heads up display appeared a timer counting down until Ardent would supposedly jump.

The Vong Corvettes made another attack run, this time strafing the capital ships at the back of the formation. All five of the heavier warships trained their Turbolaser fire on the lead corvette, which after a few seconds was nothing but an expanding gas cloud. The other four ships scattered before the Cruisers and Destroyers could combine their mass fire again.

+++

The Com officer looked up from his station. "Heavy Ore freighter 'Varalas Hoard' is still reporting difficulty with their hyperdrive sir."

"That's going to be a problem." grumbled Dorja. "What about the light freighter that was having problems?"

"It's being tractored into the main bay of Reprisal sir."

"Good." The Admiral strode up to the front viewports. "Sensors, what are the enemy Corvettes doing?"

"They've pulled back to just outside our weapons range sir. The Frigate analogs are closing but slowly."

Everyone watched the ship's chronometer count down the time remaining and no one commented when the timer overran without the freighter jumping.

"Hyperspace reversion detected!" shouted sensors. "Large enemy contact... Size exceeding two kilometres. We're having trouble getting readings on it as our sensors are still trying to identify it as an asteroid."

Dorja spun on his heel. "Any other contacts?"

"Aye sir, multiple Frigate Analogs... They're performing a micro jump to the aft of our position!"

"That's it, Helm get us out of here. All fighters jump to hyperspace."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than half of the Assault Gunboats jumped. Twilight Wanderer and Paragon were right behind them and then the stars elongated around the Ardent's viewports.

079


	80. Chapter 80

+++

The doors to the bridge of the Destroyer Iron Fist parted with a hiss and two high ranking officers strode through. The ship's Captain had to fight to keep his eyes from going wide in shock as he recognised Grand Moff Zsinj. The man returned to his senses in time to go to attention and salute as the two men approached.

"Welcome aboard Iron Fist Grand Moff."

"Thank you Captain." Zsinj took a deep breath inhaling the recycled and filtered air of one of the Empire's huge starships for the first time in years. He scanned the bridge seeing the officers down in the crew pits hard at work, just as things should be.

"Ah, it's good to be back."

"Would you like me to have your personal quarters made ready for you sir? They're still set aside."

"No Captain that's quite alright. The General and myself were just about to take a tour of the ship and see how things have held up."

"Understood sir. Would you like your command chair installed? We hadn't expected you aboard quite so soon."

The Moff seemed to think to himself for a moment then turned to the General next to him. "Melvar?"

Melvar gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head.

"You're quite right." Zsinj turned his attention back to the younger officer. "No Captain that won't be necessary. It seems to be quite popular these days for flag officers to have command centers separate from the bridge. I would hate to give the impression of not keeping up with the times."

"Aye sir." Responded the somewhat confused seeming Captain.

"Carry on." Zsinj waved to the Captain, as he turned to head out of the bridge. General Melvar was close behind.

+++

Zsinj sat down behind a strongly built desk made of dark Greel wood. He rubbed at his forehead for a moment in contemplation before slamming a fist down on the desk.

"Of all the times for something to happen these damnable Aliens, whoever they are, had to choose to invade now." He sighed trying to let his temper cool somewhat. "What is Bane's status?" he asked Melvar.

The General finished adjusting his fingernail attachments and stepped in front of the desk. "Bane, for all intents and purposes is finished. Derricote has already removed most of the implant data and equipment from site Beta. There's only a skeleton crew there now finishing off some loose ends and triple checking things.

We don't know what is happening with the primary facilities on Saffalore however because of the Hypercom blackouts."

The Moff shook his head. "We don't even know if the Corporate Sector is still standing. Burgan sent Dorja out to look around but it could be a couple of weeks before we hear back from them one way or another. Can we proceeded with Project Scourge with just the equipment from site Beta?"

Melvar looked somewhat weary. "Derricote says that his people have enough to begin production. They've moved to the secure facilities at Borleias."

Zsinj arched an eyebrow. "He _says_ he can do it, but can he?"

"Yes." Melvar replied instantly. "But production will be slow. Anything we can salvage from the Saffalore site would be helpful."

The Moff uttered a short curse in one of the myriad languages he knew.

"Get Termagant and two of the newer Carrack Cruisers loaded with some Raptors. They're to proceeded to Saffalore at best possible speed. If they can, they're to link up with Dorja's fleet for the return trip and use his ships for cover."

The General nodded after having made a mental note. "Should I impress upon them the seriousness of this mission?"

"Only the Captains of the three ships and they don't need to know the details, only that they need to get that cargo back to us." Zsinj looked up from the desk. "We have rebellion flare ups all through the Outer and Mid Rim. The Emperor wants Scourge in place as soon as possible should we need to implement it."

080

AUTHOR'S NOTE: 

From the moment I even mentioned Zsinj and the possibility that he might come out of retirement I was bombarded with questions from my few readers at the time weather he would appear or not. Being a bit of a Zsinj fan myself there was no way I could go through NJO without him even showing up once. (6/11/07)


	81. Chapter 81

* * *

The civilian convoy under the protection of the Ardent Taskforce reverted to realspace in the Toprawa system. The trip had gone without incident so far. Four hours into the Jump the Destroyers had reverted to realspace to pick up the hyperspace capable fighters that had jumped along side them, then resumed their flight. Now they waited to see if the local Imperial fleet still held the system.

"Sensors, how many Imperial ships are still in system?"

When there was no immediate response Commander Wintle walked over to the sensor station. "Lieutenant Aurlich?"

"Sorry sir, the sensors are having trouble with some of the debris showing up in low orbit around Toprawa. We're showing two operational Star Destroyers and several support ships in orbit along with another three disabled Destroyers. No enemy presence at this time."

"Good." whispered Dorja. "Com get me direct line communications to the Imperial ships still in orbit."

"Go ahead sir."

"Toprawa defence force this is Admiral Dorja aboard the Destroyer Ardent. What is your status?"

The static filled com channel came to life. "Admiral Dorja, this is Commodore Parkere. We are in the process of regrouping after repelling an attack approximately five hours ago. There were many of the alien ships present but the majority of them didn't move to engage. All of them ended up crossing the Hydian Way."

"Crossing it? None of them tried to head up or down the hyperspace lane?"

"No Admiral. We recorded their jump vectors and it appears they were headed roughly in the direction of the Cron Drift and the Tion."

Dorja tuned away from the holodisplay for a moment and looked to Wintle. "They're going to circumvent our main defensive line."

The Admiral returned his attention to the display and the Commodore. "Commodore Parkere, my group is currently headed to the Corporate sector to rally Imperial forces there. We will need to leave these civilians we've been escorting in your keeping."

"I understand Admiral. We will do what we can to reprovision them so they can make the jump Coreward. Do you have any idea how long it will be until we are relieved?"

"You can rest assured Commodore that Imperial fleets are at this very moment making their way down the Hydian Way. While there are other positions in more desperate need of ships, you should see the first arrivals within the week."

'The week... yes." The officer seemed distant for a moment, obviously wondering if they would be able to hold out for a few hours if they were attacked again.

"Commodore, in the event your positions are overrun the closest secure fleet base is at Dathomir. There are Interdictor checkpoints in place on the Hydian Way, so if retreat becomes the only option left to you it is there."

"Thank you Admiral."

* * *

Civilian ships settled into low orbit around Toprawa and shuttles began ferrying refugees down to the planet's main spaceport. The planet's fairly new capital city and the spaceport facility, were both surrounded by a large series of fortifications. The huge walls were intended to keep out the planet's former inhabitants who had been reduced to barbarism more than twenty years ago after aiding the Rebellion.

Supposedly even now Imperial troops were working on shoring up those defences to protect the city against invasion from orbit. Dorja didn't think the defenders had much hope of holding the planet if the ships in orbit fled. An orbital bombardment would take care of the planetary shields.

"How much longer Commander?" The Admiral asked over his shoulder.

Wintle arrived in short order. "The Twilight Wander is going to need two more hours to unload the civilians still aboard. We've already started restocking some of her supplies from our stores. Three hours maximum."

"Not as much of a delay as I had worried about. Do the refugees have any fighters left that would be worth taking along?"

The Commander glanced at his small datapad quickly. "The former hanger crew from Right to Rule are looking over an old Skipray Blastboat, a modified Tie Bomber, and two T-wings. All of the other fighters are going with Paragon and the other mercenaries when they escort the first group of refugees back to our lines."

"It'll have to do. I'm not moving any of our fighter squadrons over to that liner unless we have to."

"Sir." spoke up the com officer. "We have a transmission coming in from Twilight Wanderer."

"Put it through."

Where Dorja had expected to see captain Graal's face, above the projector appeared that of Fitzgibbon Lane, the administrator of the Mining Colony. Without preamble the business man started in right away.

"Admiral on behalf of the citizens of the Dal-porath mining colony I want to thank you and your people for what they've done to rescue as many of us as you have. While it's unfortunate that the one transport didn't escape everyone here understands that you did everything you could."

"Administrator Lane, it is the duty of every Imperial officer to safeguard loyal citizens to the Empire whenever possible. I'm aware that many of your people are far from being truly loyal to the cause but I couldn't take the chance that some of those that call your operation home might be true law abiding citizens. I suggest that you remember, and remind any trouble makers you might know, that they're in Imperial space now. We wont abide any attempts at Rebellion."

The colony Administrator maintained his Sabacc face the entire time despite Dorja's implied accusations. "Admiral, I assure you that I will personally make sure that the rough hard living people of my colony understand that the laws of the Empire are not ones to be trod upon. And again I want to thank you for the job you've done."

With that Lane gave a slight bow and the transmission ended.

* * *

Tendra glared across the deactivated holoprojector at her husband. "What the hell are you up to this time Fitz? He was practically accusing you of being a Rebel."

In response he flashed his most charming smile. "Perhaps the dear Admiral was intimidated on his previous visit by my stunning personality."

Tendra's glare let up only slightly.

Finally he shrugged. "He doesn't recognise me or he'd have had me arrested already. In either case we should be going. I have an idea for our next business venture."

"We only just bailed out of our previous money scheme and you're already starting to work on another?"

She walked over and the two held hands as they left the ship's communications center. Fitz patted the back of his wife's hand as he started talking again.

"As someone once said, there is no time like the present. Right now I'm thinking the galaxy could use some new weapons to fight these invaders and I'm sure the Empire isn't going to sell those weapons to just anyone."

"An arms company?" asked Tendra sounding somewhat surprised at the bold move.

"Exactly. Now... how does Tendran Arms sound?"

081

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

_I still havent decided if they'll make YVH droids some day or not. _

EDIT: I would like to thank Sci-fi junkie for the help with solving some issues of mine in posting.


	82. Chapter 82

**

* * *

DATA GAMBIT ENCRYPT PROTOCOL ENABLED/**

_**Access Key Verification...**_** CONFIRMED/**

**PROCESSING... **

_**Decryption complete. This message will self terminate in 5 standard minutes.**_

_Netbers; get to the Strike Cruiser Tribune within the next twelve hours. The ship's captain will have additional but limited information available to you. You will be required to recover elements of Bane. The Captain is to be kept in the dark._

**--END TRANSMISSION--**

Major Radaf Netbers waited until the computer virus contained within the message erased everything on the datapad. Once it had started to heat up from burning out the pad's memory core he tossed it down a disintegrator chute.

The encryption method, along with the short concise message were both typical of the high priority missions given to him by Melvar. Any mission for Melvar usually meant Zsinj, and that in turn meant it was for the good of the Empire. He would need to find a shuttle pilot to get him where he was needed and quickly. 

* * *

"The last of the Civilian shuttles has departed Twilight Wanderer." reported Wintle.

"It's about time. Have the ship form up with our fleet. We can finish resupplying them as we get ready for our jump." Dorja headed off towards the back of the bridge to look over more star charts.

The Fleet moved out from Toprawa's gravity well and took up escort positions around Wanderer. Though heavily shielded and now fairly well armed, the civilian built ship still wouldn't be expected to last long in a capital ship engagement. Shuttles from the 3 larger Destroyers continued their supply runs to the Wanderer for the next hour.

"Transmission from Wanderer sir."

Dorja pointed to his station and soon Captain Graal's face was there. "Admiral I believe we now have enough supplies aboard for the run out to the Corporate Sector. We may need to resupply again when we get there but I know you want to get underway."

"Thank you for the update Captain. Prepare your ship for immediate jump to hyperspace."

The Captain offered a short bow in response and signed off.

Dorja strode out onto the command walkway.

"Helm, do we have our next jump plotted?"

"Yes sir."

"Transmit to the rest of the fleet and initiate jump at your convenience Lieutenant."

Within a minute the stars elongated as the fleet once again entered hyperspace. 

* * *

On the other side of the Toprawa system the Cruiser Paragon lead the first civilian refugee convoy out of the system, back toward Imperial lines. The ship's Captain Nei Folen barely glanced over his shoulder as the two former Colony Administrators entered the bridge.

"What can I do for you today?" asked the aging mercenary, not taking his eyes off several displays for a moment. "You rarely visit my ship let alone the bridge without reason."

Tendra took the lead making sure to shush her husband before doing so. "Captain we were hoping to hire out your services for our next business venture."

The man leaned back in his command chair and laughed. When he caught his breath he turned to face them. "And just what are you going to pay me with? You had a whole star system's worth of mines to help pay for the services of my crew. What are you go to be doing that will interest me at all?"

"How would you like some weapons? I'm getting the feeling people might be in the market for some rather soon."

The Captain looked off to the side for a moment before slowly nodding his head. "Weapons... weapons would be good. Alright you've got my ear but I suppose you'll need secure transport for these weapons you'll be paying me with."

"I was hoping we could work on that together. You know people I'm certain. People that wouldn't run to the Empire at the first sign of trouble."

"That I do..."

082


	83. Chapter 83

* * *

Every officer on the bridge of Ardent was pulled forward slightly as the ship was yanked out of hyperspace early. "We've been pulled out of hyperspace by an artificial gravity well." reported the navigator

The Admiral shook his head in annoyance.

"Where's the Interdictor?"

"No Cruiser analogs detected. There looks to be a Gravity Mine of the same type encountered by the fleet near Yaga Minor."

"Is it blocking the entire hyperspace lane?"

"No sir, just enough that we grazed the edge of the well."

Wintle walked up to the Admiral after looking over the ship's status. "We should destroy it just so that it's not in our way on the return leg."

Before anyone could say anything further the sensor officer called out again. "Hyperspace reversions detected. Frigate and Cruisers Analogs. All of them are on the opposite side of the Grav-well."

"Do we launch fighters?" Asked Wintle.

Dorja thought. "No. If they move to attack us we'll back out of the Grav-well and find another way around. Sensors, what are the enemy ships doing?"

"Enemy ships are moving perpendicular to the hyperspace lane."

"They're moving across the lane like what was reported at Toprawa." Noted the Commander.

"One of the ships just jumped away, the rest are holding position."

No one spoke for a moment until at length the Helmsman asked; "Orders sir?"

Dorja frowned then turned to the helmsman. "Take us across the Gravity well. The shortest course that will allow us to continue on to the Corporate sector."

The junior officer began laying in commands and the ship accelerated. "Time until Grav-well edge; five minutes."

"Additional contacts reverting."

"Helm increase speed." sighed Dorja.

"Sir!" Called Wintle, looking over the sensor officer's shoulder. "You'd better see this."

"Bring it up." the older man ordered after walking over.

On the Holodisplay appeared one of the ships that had just jumped in.

"It looks like a small moon." commented the Sensors officer.

"That's no moon Lieutenant, it's more like a space station."

The ship was a rocky ovoid but had additional extensions and growths that made it look more like a spiral galaxy from head on.

"Sensors, how big is that?"

"Forty Kilometres across sir."

"...And what is it doing?"

"Moving across the hyperspace lane sir."

"That's what I thought. Commander?"

"Sir?" Replied Wintle.

Dorja leaned closer to the commander and whispered. "Get us the hell out of here."

"Aye." Wintle inhaled and started barking out orders. "Helm! Increase to flank speed. Com tell Twilight Wanderer to push their engines critical if needed. "

While the Commander ordered about the rest of the bridge crew Dorja conferred with the sensor officer. "Are any of the ships moving to attack?"

"No Sir. A Frigate and three Shard Squadrons look to be moving to protect the Gravity Mine. The rest are jumping out."

Both watched the screens until the Helmsman called out the report everyone had been waiting for.

"We have cleared the gravity well sir."

Dorja stepped back up onto the command walkway. "Tell all ships to reduce speed, but stand by to jump. Prepare a Probe Droid for launch Immediately."

Everyone waited momentarily as the Ops officer prepared the probe.

"The Vong mobile base has jumped away."

Dorja turned back to the sensors officer. "Log that trajectory and launch the probe droid along the same course."

"Probe away." reported the Operations officer.

Wintle had moved and was watching the sensor screens when new movement started. "Admiral we have Cruiser analogs moving to intercept."

"Helm when the probe is clear Jump us out. Time to enemy Intercept?"

The sensors officer watched the screens closely.

"Vong ships are 3 minutes to weapons range."

"Probe is clear."

"Helm!"

"Aye sir!"

The Fleet jumped back into the safety of Hyperspace.

083


	84. Chapter 84

* * *

A Star Destroyer and her escort were pulled from hyperspace by a gravity well that shouldn't have been there. Within bare moments of reversion Tie Bombers and Interceptors poured from her launch bays ready to face down whatever threat stood in their way.

The sensors officer look up from the crew pit. "We're detecting the Dominator class Interdictor 'Craven Net' and four Vindicator class cruisers. There are also several light ships along with them."

"Contact The General." Rumbled the Captain's gravelly voice. "Let him know we've encountered the enemy and are going to hold their attention for a few minutes."

"Yes sir!" Responded the com officer.

Captain Jhemiti, the Mon Cal commander of the Destroyer Coercion, walked to the front of the bridge and looked out through the viewports before the blast shutters began to close in preparation for battle.

"Tell starfighters to raise shields, we're not going to be bluffing this time." 

* * *

Twenty minutes later the Star Destroyer Blacken and her group reverted to realspace on the edge of the artificial gravity well.

"Where's Coercion and Rough Justice?" Demanded Iblis.

"Sixty degrees to port sir. They're engaging the Interdictor's escorts at maximum range."

Garm studied the holo displays. "All ships set an intercept course for the Intedictor and Launch Fighters. Tell Cracken that I want his fighters out there assisting Coercion as soon as possible."

"Aye."

Mixed squadrons of Uglies and other commonly found starfighters poured from the launch bays of Two Imperial class ships and several freighters. Nearly two full squadrons of A-wings broke away from the other fighters and accelerated towards the battle. Seeing the new incoming threat one of the Vindicator class cruisers broke off her long range Turbolaser exchange with Coercion's group and placed herself to protect the Interdictor.

"Cracken to Flight Group, we've got Squints forming up around that Vindicator up ahead. Shake them up with missiles at range, then we split by squadrons and hit them with crossfire."

Once the A-wing fighters were in range Pash waited long enough for everyone to attempt missile locks. "Three... Two..." he whispered under his breath, mentally timing and judging for distance. "Launch missiles! Aaaand... break! Break! Break!"

Many of the Interceptors concentrated on shooting down the incoming missiles while others turned as the Rebel fighters changed course. Each A-Wing swivelled their laser cannon to point nearly 90 degrees off their new headings and fired at the Ties now caught in a crossfire.

A few Ties exploded either from missile or laser hits while most of the others went evasive.

"Target the closest Vindicator with missiles but keep fire on the Ties."

Both groups of A-wings found themselves sweeping past and around the Interceptor screen, closing in on the cruiser they'd been defending. Some of the Interceptors were able to break away from the confused tumble their main formation had become and pursue, but with nearly full squadrons of A-wings present it only required a couple to put down an effective suppression fire.

"Launch missiles at two 'kay."

Right on cue the Rebel fighters fired their second volley of missiles then turned their lasers on the Cruiser to compound any damage.

Even as the A-wings bore down on the ship and swept past, dodging it's fire, the Interdictor was beginning to maneuver. The bow of the mile long ship came up bringing her entire port side battery to bear on the Rebel fighters. The huge beams of Heavy Turbolaser bolts flashed out from the ship creating a halo of green energy fire around the Vindicator. One unlucky A-wing caught part of a bolt, melting the cockpit and engines clean away.

"Let's finish our figure eight people! It'll help draw the Interdictor's fire."

"Iblis to Cracken." called the General over the tactical channel.

"Go ahead General." responded the pilot as his fighter was rocked from a near miss.

"The Interdictor is using it's bulk to shield something. Keep an eye out. They're jamming sensors and Coercion cant get a good look."

"Gotcha. A-wings! Let's take this one out a bit wider than normal."

Instead of turning in harder to close on whatever was behind the large Imperial ship the Rebels swung out farther. When the contact came into view Pash felt his blood go cold. "Lancer Deuce behind the Interdictor! Break by flights and head for Coercion!" Once the A-wings started to break formation and head for the Rebel capital ships the Lancer opened fire. Banks of Quad Laser Cannon fired in sequence at maximum range scoring shield hits on a handful of the fleeing A-wing fighters. 

* * *

"All ships maximum speed!" Called out the old General. "Sensors keep sensor locks on that Lancer Frigate and continuously update it's position to our fighters."

"Yes sir!"

Up ahead the mixed Rebel starfighter wing crashed through the badly disorganised Interceptor squadrons. Meanwhile the A-wings were now helping to attack the line of Vindicators and Carrack Cruisers engaging Coercion. The Shielded Tie Bombers and Interceptors used by the Rebels were slowly winning the battle against the mostly unshielded Imperial Interceptors. The Imp Tie Bombers however were still holding their own. Armed with both Torpedoes and missiles, and sporting the same shield systems as the Scimitar Assault Bomber they were a force to be reckoned with.

"Interdictor is coming about sir."

"Are they going to charge us?" wondered the old General out loud.

"Sorry sir, they're changing course. Moving to form up with the cruiser line exchanging fire with Coercion. All of them look to be preparing for hyperspace."

"We cant let them run. Keep hitting them!"

Slowly but steadily now all of the Imperial capital ships were repositioning for a jump to hyperspace.

The Tie's then began a mad rush back to their carriers while the heavier ships redirected their fire against the Rebel starfighters.

"Interdiction field is gone."

Iblis pointed to the flight coordinator. "Begin recovering all non-hyperspace capable fighters."

Within a second of each other the entire Imperial force jumped out, their white hulls flashing off into the distance.

"Sithspit. Plot their jump and transmit to all ships! Rough Justice is to stay behind and finish recovery operations."

As the bridge crew got to work Iblis pulled out his comlink. "Iblis to Cracken."

"I hear you General."

"As soon as you get the hyperspace coordinates I want you to jump ahead and intercept that fleet. We'll be right behind you so you shouldn't have to hold for long."

Cracken looked through the sensor screen on his A-wing and counted the operational starfighters not running for the Destroyers. "It looks like I've got about five, nearly six squadrons of fighters here that can jump. The Imps still had more than twice that many plus the Lancer."

"Do what you have to Commander but don't let them continue farther up the Rimma. Iblis out."

084


	85. Chapter 85

* * *

The Rebel Destroyer group jumped into the Tantra System minutes behind the escaped Imperial fleet.

"Sensors? Status report."

"Commander Cracken's starfighter forces appear to have blocked the Imperial fleet group form proceeding farther up the Rimma. Instead they're taking aboard additional starfighters from the local garrison."

"Helm, intercept course. What are the intel reports for the system?" Asked the General.

One of the officers paged through screens on their console until they found the data. "Mainly anti-piracy equipment and groundside support facilities. Most of the groundside bases are buried deep beneath the global ice cover."

"Planetary shields?"

"Info is outdated but is supposed to be only partial coverage of the planet's surface."

"Launch some Assault Shuttles. They'll wait in system until Rough Justice arrives then help in trying to secure the planet."

"Aye sir."

"General the Imperial fleet is breaking from high orbit. They're aligning for a jump down the Coyn Route, heading farther into the Elrood sector."

"Well we stopped them from running up the Rimma which is what really matters. Are we close enough for a Hypercom transmission to the Rebel forces already in the sector?"

The Com officer looked dubious but checked just to be sure. "Just barely sir."

"Good, get Captain Iillor. That old wreck of her's will still work for us yet."

Iblis watched the displays as the Imperial fleet continued to keep ahead of them. Pash's fighter squadrons began to slowly move inward but still held far enough back to block attempts at a jump in their direction.

"Incoming transmission from Cracken's flight group."

"Patch it through to my comlink." Requested the General. "Iblis here go ahead."

"This is Cracken. General, what's the plan? Some of my fighters will need to rearm and refuel soon."

"We follow the Imp fleet through the next jump. Your fighters are still faster than some of the ships in their fleet so you'll be able to harass them. Wait for us to catch up there and we'll take you aboard then." And after that the General knew would be a race down the Coyn Route.

The hyperspace route might take several hours for either fleet to finish at flank speed. The Rebel fleet had to keep as close behind the Imperial fleet as possible if they had any hope of chasing them down. 

* * *

Captain Uwlla Iillor of the Frigate 'Smuggler's Folly' watched the main sensor displays for any hyperspace disturbances. The old and battered CC-7700 Frigate was one of the few ship classes in the galaxy built to carry gravity well projectors. The Folly only had a single projector unlike the four most Interdictor Cruisers carried. The other previously working projector had been slowly scrapped for parts over the past three years to keep just one of them working.

"Hyperspace wave forms detected." Reported the Sullustan sensor officer.

"All pilots to their stations." Commanded Iillor.

She kept any sign of worry from her face as she considered what the old Rebel General had them to do. Had asked [iher[/i to do. She'd brought all of the Rebel starships in the Elrood sector together for this mission. Most of the crews had been in hiding or working freight jobs for the past few years and had come rushing back when the hypercom disturbances started weeks ago. Some of the crew were new but everyone had been training non-stop under her watch, waiting for the call.

And it had come.

"Capital ships reverting. They've got their own interdictor."

The seasoned starship Captain looked over the Imperial forces and swallowed. Just two weeks ago she'd pitted her crews against a similar force in simulations. The only difference between the fleet from the sim and this one was that the Imperial's had twice as many support ships. She had Four light capital ships and Smuggler's Folly couldn't fight to her maximum potential with the gravity generator drawing power.

"Launch fighters! Helm keep us as far away from that Dominator as you can but keep it in our Gravity well."

Y-ceptor uglies dropped from the main cargo holds of the two Rebel Corvette's present while a pair of Tie Clutch craft launched from the forward bay of each ship. A converted Bulk Cruiser moved to take up position protecting the Folly while launching her own fighters. Two Squadrons of refurbished Razor fighters lead the Rebel fighter wave into the storm of launching Tie craft.

The Imperial flight wings didn't have enough time after launch to form up into their standard 'Rebel breaker' formations, instead throwing themselves into the dogfight as soon as they were clear. The Razors had all been equipped with shield generators from the old Y-wing design allowing them to plough through the heavier fighting. The Y-ceptors, essentially under built A-wings, flashed through the clouds of Tie fighters at maximum speed attempting to cause as much confusion as possible. The Clutch craft stayed close behind the Razor's breaking up pockets of Imperial fighters as they tried to form up with the few shielded fighters.

The Imperial Interdictor fired Turbolasers into the fighter swarm every so often but continued to concentrate on Smuggler's Folly. The Rebel ship had now turned and was fleeing at sublight ahead of the Imperials.

"Iillor to fighters, that Lancer is trying to get around the Interdictor."

"Gotcha Captain." Replied Toven Wynver the Rebel starfighter Commander. "All fighters begin combat drift in the direction of the Folly. If you see that Lancer peekin' at'cha get your tail out of there!"

Slowly but steadily the heaviest starfighter combat started to drift back in the direction of the Rebel captial ships.

085


	86. Chapter 86

* * *

Byuran ke Shia snap rolled his Tie Interceptor out of the way of a laser burst from a Rebel Ugly.

The roll brought him across the path of another Imperial fighter spoiling their shot.

In the past day or so Byuran had seen more heavy combat than most people or pilots from Adumar saw over years of duels. The initial battle back on the Rimma Trade route had been nearly a straight turn fight. Few on either side were able to score killing hits, so busy were they at trying to avoid their own pursuit.

This fight was different. They'd launched without having time to form up like the Imperial instructors had taught and he didn't appear to be the only one caught out of position. With less Rebel fighters present it should have been easy to kill them off but now there was the problem with other Imperial craft back-stopping any missed shots.

Byuran knew he was fortunate enough to be flying one of the few Interceptors present upgraded with shields. Most of the nobility back on Adumar had quickly learned the usefulness of the added defences for use in duels and those that flew with the Empire often paid out of their own pockets to have even a basic shield thrown on. Ship board requisition officers and flight techs were never happy with the arrangement however due to the added strain on the Ion engine's reactor and the parts to maintain them.

After a handful of tight turns and loops to avoid both enemy and friendly fire he formed up off the wing of a Tie Bomber that was making a run towards the Rebel capital ships. Before they reached range however the Bomber fired a torpedo and then pulled hard. A pair of concussion missiles streaked in and hit the underside of the bomber, the second penetrating shields and hull before exploding. A Razor fighter streaked through the wreckage firing it's lasers on another bomber farther back.

Byuran hauled back on the pilot's yolk, and despite having to dodge more fire was soon on the Rebel fighter's tail. As it closed in on the next bomber the Rebel fired it's chin mounted Ion cannon dropping the Tie's shields. Byuran fired, his paired laser blasts slamming the aft shields of the Razor forcing it to change course and getting off only one shot at the unshielded bomber. As they both sped by, the Adumari pilot realised that the Bomber's torpedo launcher had been destroyed by the hit it had take. The Bomber turned back and headed for it's carrier.

The Razor that Byuran pursued however wouldn't give up. The pilot rolled and turned in seemingly random directions all the while snapping off shots at other distant Tie fighters. The Interceptor's lasers hammered through the tough shields burning a hole through one wing and then the Rebel was suddenly accelerating. At first he thought that it was jumping to hyperspace but soon it's brightly flaring sublight drive dimmed measurably back to normal levels and it turned in behind another Imperial craft.

"Lieutenant ke Shia to Squadron leader. One of the Rebel fighters just put on a huge burst of acceleration to avoid my fire. I've never seen the likes of it before."

The Major responded after a minute, breathing heavily as he always did after coming out of a high G maneuver "The Rebels must have equipped some of their fighters with SLAM's. 'SubLight Acceleration Motors.' It usually drains power from the weapons."

As Byuran looked he noticed that the Razor that had escaped him wasn't firing it's Ion cannons like before. "Sir, they're drawing power from their Ion cannons to bower the booster."

"Thanks for the update." replied his commanding officer.

With a flick of a switch the Adumari pilot redirected shield power to engines. He still had about a minute before the shields faded away completely and the slight speed boost might let him catch his enemy. "You're mine Rebel." Byuran growled out as he closed in. The Razor in his sights was trying to get behind another Tie Bomber that wasn't co-operating, rolling and dodging in much the same manner the rebel himself had been.

He set lasers for quad fire and watched the distance scroll down below a kilometre on his HUD. The first quad shot knocked down the still weakened aft shields and the second blew off the fighter's tail fin. Before the Lasers could cycle for a third shot however a pair of Ion bolts struck his now unshielded Interceptor from below. Blue lightning crawled over everything and most of the displays blew out.

When the lightning faded after a few seconds everything inside the cockpit was pitch black. No sound or vibration carried through the fighter from the engines or reactor. Stars drifted past outside the transparisteel canopy as the fighter slowly turned. When at last the battle came into view again through the viewport Byuran noticed that things had changed dramatically.

The Three Rebel Star Destroyers had caught up. 

* * *

"Target that lancer!" Demanded Iblis as the ship shook from Turbolaser hits.

The entire Imperial force was now coming about, changing targets to the Destroyers that had showed up nearly point blank off their aft.

Blacken opened fire on most of the smaller Imperial ships including the Lancer class Frigate while the other Two Destroyers attempted to separate the Dominator from her escorts. Blacken's gunners hit the Lancer's sublight drives repeatedly and soon the pounding dropped it's aft shields and damaged her engines, leaving it drifting in space. Coercion and Death's Shadow both hit Craven Net with full broadsides, nearly dropping the Interdictor's shields in one blow, but her Captain found enough emergency power to keep the forward shield up.

Around all of the Captial ships the fighters tore into each other. Pash Cracken's A-wings sped through the fighting leaving burned out fighters and general destruction in their wake. Most of the Imperial Tie bombers were caught out on the far side of the engagement attempting to Torpedo Smuggler's Folly. When the rest of the Rebel fleet had arrived the two Corvettes and converted Bulk Cruiser changed course, charging out into the clouds of Tie craft.

The Rebel Tie bomber force fired what Torpedoes and missiles they had left into the Vindicator Cruisers and then began strafing runs with lasers and Ion cannon. When one of the cruisers lost shields from missile hits both Blacken and Coercion struck it with a combined broadside. Most of ship's portside batteries were blown open to space and the bridge complex exploded. When the shields on Craven Net at long last fell, some three squadrons of fighters and the Destroyers began pounding her with Ion cannon fire.

Iblis looked carefully over the situation. The Vindicators could still cause a lot of damage on their own, but they didn't stand a chance at catching Smuggler's Folly and taking down her Gravity well if they hoped to escape. He turned to the com officer who asked; "Transmit surrender requests sir?"

"You guessed it." He said. "Have any of the damaged ships indicated they want to surrender yet?"

"No sir, but the damaged Vindicator has ceased fire."

At that same moment the last lights on Craven Net died out.

"Sir, the other ships are now transmitting surrender protocols."

"It's about time. Find some spare crew to put aboard those ships. We'll need some combat teams and a skeleton crew to move them into orbit of Coyn. If Captain Iillor's reports about the local populace are accurate I'm sure the locals will be more than happy to give the Imperials a fair fight with these ships."

086


	87. Chapter 87

* * *

Ardent and her fleet reverted to real space for the first time in days without the assistance of an artificial Gravity Well. For the moment not fighter launched from the bays of any of the Imperial Capital ships. 

"How far out are we?" asked Admiral Dorja.

The Nav officer seemed fairly certain for a change when he reported; "We're still just outside the edges of Aparo Sector sir. Right on target."

Thank the Emperor, Dorja whispered to himself silently. He'd feared that the fleet would have been thrown off course after being yanked out of hyperspace so many times by the Vong Gravity Mines. The strain put on the hyperdrives was bound to have soon added up if they'd continued like that much longer.

Commander Wintle looked down into the crew pit. "Com, have you established contact with the Corporate Sector holonet?"

"Having difficulty sir. We're getting something but there's not enough bandwidth this far out. We'll have to wait until we're closer."

Dorja shook his head. "By the time we're closer we'd be further ahead to just use subspace radio. Let's not bother." He put a hand to his chin and thought. "Send out four of our Escort Shuttles on scouting runs, each with two Assault Gunboats for protection. They're to rendezvous with us at Bonadan."

"We're not going straight to the Sector Capital?" questioned Wintle.

"Bonadan sits at the end of the Hydian Way. There's sure to be a CSA fleet parked there with what's going on. We should be able to tell how things are going in the sector by how many ships are present."

Escort Shuttles dropped from Ardent's Main Bay and then linked up with some of the Gunboats before jumping into Hyperspace on different vectors.

"Set course for Bonadan."

* * *

Uwlla Iillor looked out from the bridge viewports of the Destroyer Blacken. She hadn't been aboard a Star Destroyer in years, back when she'd been serving the Empire... and being repeatedly passed over for promotion.

"The General will see you know Captain." called out a junior officer from the back of the bridge.

Soon she was sitting down in the Captain's ready room which the General had taken over at the moment. Iblis checked that the door was locked then slid out a blocky carrying case and pit it on the desk in front of Iillor. "Captain, in this box is our new secure means of communications. It doesn't require hypercom. Everything you need to know about it is on a data pad that's with it. The information on it is eyes only and must be destroy once you're finished reading it. If your ship is captured or boarded that device is on your list of things to destroy. Don't leave any trace of it for the empire to find. I took the liberty of enclosing a small thermal detonator along with it for you."

"Thank you sir."

"Don't thank me yet Captain. You have more experience with Interdictor type ships than anyone else in the Rebel fleet, I cant think of anyone else better for the job. I'm giving you command of Craven Net, please rename it as you see fit. We're also going to start renaming the rest of our Destroyers soon."

"I suppose I'll go with Rebel Net sir."

"As good as any." Iblis stopped talking when he realized his comlink was going off. "I've got the storage units with my secure com's rigged with motion sensors. Feel free to watch."

The Corellian picked up a box much like the one he'd given to Iillor but this one had a blinking red light on the front of it along with the name 'Iella' printed next to it. Iblis pulled out an ovoid shape from inside and held it up facing him in one hand. Iillor could see that the side of it the General was looking at had morphed into a face.

"Garm here, what have you heard."

Iella Wessiri's voice emanated from the device. "The Mercenary base in the Sluis sector has been destroyed. I don't have any way to tell right now if any of them escaped but I do know they were attacked by a Sovreign, the Heresiarch."

"Have they thrown a Sovreign at Kre'fey's position yet?"

"No. Heresiarch was supposed to be part of the same group that already attacked Bothan space but was broken off to form a new force when an uprising started in the Sluis Sector."

"How much time to we have?"

"Not long. I'll get back to you on how much but you should have a week minimum before she get's underway."

"You're right. That isn't a lot of time." Before he could ponder that however Iella continued.

"'Paradise Lost' has already started her run up the Rimma. She should be in the Minos Sector by now. Tycho is almost finished mopping up. If you want I can get him to send Gavin up to the Elrood Sector early."

Iblis shook his head. "Tell them to secure the Sector first unless the local Imp forces start trying to drag it out. We may need the X-wings though. Have them ready to head out."

"I'll let them know. Wessiri out."

After putting the box and the com creature away Iblis turned back toe the Starship Captain sitting across from him.

"There are a lot of Imperial personnel that still have to be shipped off of Rebel Net before she becomes operational. If you can, try and convince some of the crew they're on the wrong side. We need the extra people."

"Aye sir."

087


	88. Chapter 88

Ardent's Destroyer group jumped into the Bonadan System in tight formation and moving at close to flank speed. Two Squadrons of Tie Bombers launched from the other Destroyers and formed up in defensive positions. As they sped farther into the system 6 of the remaining 8 Escort shuttles launched and joined the defensive screen.

"Com and Sensors, keep your eyes and ears open." Instructed the Admiral.

"Why haven't we tried hailing the locals yet sir?" asked Wintle, again acting the part of the concerned officer.

"The Corporate Sector has always done things a little differently from The Empire. They care about absolute profit no matter what, even if it means breaking The Empire's laws. If we come in fast and hard like this it will look to them like we're moving in for bombardment. A little reminder about what happens to the disloyal."

"I see sir."

"Also, I'm hoping to draw out any ships they have present so we can give them the combat data directly."

"Detecting Civilian contacts through the inner system sir." reported sensors.

"How many are we talking about?" asked Dorja.

"Somewhere close to one hundred sir. Most of them are transports of various makes or shuttles. We also have some larger Luxury Liners in orbit above Roonadan."

Once the sensor officer had finished the com officer spoke up. "Sir we have an incoming Transmission. Audio only."

"On speaker."

An older stern sounding woman's voice issued from the speakers. "Bonadan Traffic control to inbound Imperial Battlegroup, welcome to the Corporate Sector. Please state your business in system for documentation purposes."

The Admiral went to the forward station to look out the forward viewports then lifted his com. "This is Admiral Dorja in command of The Imperial Battlegroup Ardent. We're here as part of a larger investigation into the Hypercom blackout plaguing this part of the galaxy. We'll be entering low orbit of Bonadan as soon as possible at the orders of the expedition Commander."

"Thank you Admiral, but as per CSA emergency guidelines recently put into place we'll require an extended flight plan for the duration of your stay inside the Sector."

_Well played_ Dorja thought to himself. The CSA government was attempting restrict any and all flow of information to the rest of the sector with the exception of what they allowed. It was a good idea if one wanted to keep the civil population in line or simply to prevent a panic.

He regarded his upheld com for a second then replied to the Traffic controller. "Our flight plan in the Corporate Sector is classified under section eight of the Imperial Fleet Deployment Restricted Information Act. No further flight plan information will be forthcoming. Ardent out."

Wintle regarded the Admiral. "Was that entirely wise sir?"

Dorja nodded. "It will give us the response we want. Helm, maintain flank speed."

The Imperial Battlegroup continued it's drive into the inner system and soon they were closing in on the world of Bonadan itself.

"We will be entering Bonadan's Gravity well in less than five minutes." reported sensors.

"Helm, reduce speed and angle the ship as though for planetary bombardment. Same orders to the rest of the fleet. Com, switch to the latest encryption scheme."

A chorus of "Aye sir" echoed across the bridge.

If Dorja had been waiting for a response from the CSA fleets they didn't have to wait long. Not ten seconds after they entered the Gravity well the sensor officer called out that hyperspace reversions had been detected. Two groups, each consisting of an old Vic and Two Marauder Corvettes reverted at the edge of the Well.

"Not so unprepared after all. How many fighters have they got?"

"Sixteen total sir." replied the sensor officer before a noise from his console drew his attention back. "Additional CSA forces coming around from the far side of the planet"

"Numbers?"

"Three Vic's, four Marauders, four Etti light cruisers and three full squadrons of IRD's"

"Looks like they have their defences in order after all." said the Admiral

Wintle shook his head. "I'd hardly consider IRD's and old Vic's a match for the Vong sir."

"Leading Victory Destroyer is hailing us sir. Again, audio only."

"On speaker."

"This is CSA Taskforce One Oh Three to Imperial Battlegroup Ardent. We request that you change course immediately and enter a high orbit."

"About time. Do as he says helm. Com, start transmitting the Vong data package."

088


	89. Chapter 89

* * *

Admiral Dorja scanned through a stack of classified documents in his quarters, the door locked and troopers posted outside. In the center of the room he'd placed three cases all of which held special transmitters needed for entrance to various secure Imperial compounds throughout the galaxy. What he needed now was to figure out which combination of classified codes would fit with one of the transmitters to get him where he wanted to go.

Ardent and the rest of the Imperial Battlegroup remained in orbit above Bonadan, under escort by the local CSA fleet. The locals had provided them with a 'secure' subspace communications band to contact the Corporate Sector ExO on the sector capital world of Etti IV. Though the ExO was officially the head of the CSA government he had refused to do anything other than promise to look over the Vong data. With power roughly equivalent to an Imperial Grand Moff there wasn't much else that Dorja could say to the man.

That didn't mean there was nothing he could do about it. The Imperial Advisor to the CSA, the one responsible for representing the wishes of the Empire, or even the Emperor himself, had the powers to call a meeting of the Direx Board. After the completion of a huge Palace for Palpatine's use in the Sector some time after Endor, the Imperial advisor had traditionally taken up residence there.

Before construction had been completed however the security of the site was increased considerably. After the Rebels had thrown away their entire fleet at Endor trying to kill Palpatine the threat of assassination attempts remained high. These days even knowledge of what system the Palace was located in was considered grounds for arrest in the CSA.

At length the Admiral assembled the data cards and pass-codes needed along with which transmitter. Once he'd secured the rather small transmitter in a new case (one not rigged with explosives) he headed for the bridge. 

* * *

"Dorja to Wintle, Commander please report to my ready room."

As he waited the few seconds for the Commander to arrive Dorja looked at the holo image projected onto the one wall of his office showing the planet below. Bonadan's ugly near uniform shade of yellow was streaked through with blots of rust. It was hard to tell which of the two colours were supposed to be clouds. The world was a barren wasteland and how so many people continued to live down there amazed him.

The office door hissed open and Commander Wintle snapped off a salute as he entered.

"Status report Commander."

Wintle went through the list of readyness reports and the status of the CSA forces still in the system.

"Finally, the CSA fleet is still insistent on restricting our movement inside the sector."

"That's no surprise." Muttered Dorja, as he wiped at his forehead with the palm of one hand.

"Oh, also sir a Hallis Saper the Head of Corporate Sector Media Distribution is requesting an interview with you."

"What?" Came Dorja's surprised reply. "A Civilian? Must be from one of those gossip tabloid columnists. Why doesn't she interview some of the CSA people?"

"The Espos sir? "

"Right, right, what was I thinking. _Request denied._ We don't need the local government accusing us about inciting civilian uprisings."

"Absolutely sir."

Dorja closed down the terminal he'd previously been looking over during the conversation.

"So to prevent anything like that from happening, and to make sure we aren't just sitting here for the better part of a month, I'm taking a trip."

"Sir?" asked the younger man arching an eyebrow.

"I want you to have one of the escort Shuttles moved to the forward landing bay. Once you've done that contact Colonel Fel and Commander Taulen, have them meet me there. I'll want that bay closed off from the rest of the ship with all security and recording for the bay turned off."

"I'll need authorization clearance for that sir. There are procedures against that because of the threat of officers occasionally going rogue."

"I'm aware of the regulations Commander. While it never happened to me personally, some of the fleet group's I've been assigned to have had incidents like that happen. Years ago of course."

He punched a series of commands into the terminal then ejected a datacard which he handed to Wintle.

"I can't tell you where we're going or for how long but if we're any longer than two weeks assume the worst. You're in command of the group until I return. If you need the opinion of one of the other ship Captains ask. They have a few years experience on you still. Use it."

"Aye sir."

With that the Admiral was up and head out the door and Wintle scrambled to carry out his orders.

* * *

When Dorja arrived in the forward landing bay the last of the shuttles pilots were just leaving. A lone escort shuttle sat near the bay entrance with it's signature wings folded and landing ramp down. When the Admiral made straight for the shuttle, both Colonel Fel and the Stormtrooper Commander headed to join him.

"Colonel Fel, do you have piloting and servicing experience with one of these vehicles?" Asked the older man.

Fel threw a salute as he fell into step. "Some sir, we were all cross trained on Escort Shuttles at the Academy. The controls are simple enough and the maintinence tends to be more simple than on the newer Tie craft."

"Good." Dorja held out a case to Fel. "You'll need to remove Primary access panel 6B and replace the standard transmitter with the one in that case. Bring the old one aboard in the case when you're done. Commander, you'll be manning the aft Turret. You're the only officer aboard with gunnery training that has high enough security clearance."

"I understand sir. Are there any special weapons you think might be appropriate for where we're going?"

"Commander if we need to use any weapons on this run we're dead already." 

089


	90. Chapter 90

* * *

The lone Escort shuttle Carrying Admiral Dorja, Colonel Fel and Commander Taulen aboard reverted to Hyperspace in a seemingly random system.

"Colonel, set course for the second planet in the system. Sensors should show it as uninhabited."

"I've got it on sensors sir." replied the Colonel.

"Good. Put us on a straight line for the system's Star until we cross the orbit of the third planet."

Without another word Jag sent the shuttle heading deeper into the system. Some time passed before he spoke again. "Crossing orbit of the third planet, changing course to close on second planet."

Once the Shuttle had swung about on it's new direction the Admiral unbuckled his restraints and stood up. "Colonel please adjust our com system so it is broadcasting on a tight band, dead ahead. After that if could you please go aft and spend some time with the Commander."

Jag punched in the commands on the flight console, engaged the Autopilot then saluted to the Admiral as he went aft. Once the hatch to the aft turret was sealed Dorja pulled out a datacard and inserted it into the communications suit.

"Pass code; Dorja Ay Are, Green, One Three Three Seven One Two Zero Seven Four One, Charlatan. Enable."

Lights flashed and blinked across the com suite for a few seconds then two words popped up.

'VERIFIED... TRANSMITTING/'

Dorja picked up his com. "Colonel you can come back up here now."

Then he set the com unit for continuous transmission and strapped himself back in.

The rest of the flight remained uneventful until they reached high orbit of the second world.

"Sir, we're going to pass dangerously close to the second planet's small moon."

"How close?"

"Roughly a kilometre, though the moon is only ten Kilometre's long."

Dorja seemed to think about it for a moment then nodded knowingly.

"Don't change course, keep us headed straight into the atmosphere."

Jag did just that, though he reduced speed enough so that they wouldn't burn up on contact with the atmosphere. The tell-tale vibration ran through the ship as they passed through thicker air.

"Taulen here, I've got something weird happening aft."

"Elaborate please commander." requested Dorja.

"Sorry sir. We've got two points a few hundred metres behind us where some of the atmosphere is swirling away. It's not from us."

"Keep close watch on them." instructed the Admiral. "Whatever you do, don't fire on them."

When the shuttle reached lower altitudes they encountered some of the thick clouds that seemed to shroud the equatorial regions of the planet.

"I can make out some shapes now because of the clouds." reported Taulen "Three wings, pointed like Interceptor arrays but larger. I can't make out any other features, the whole thing is a uniform black like there's no light reflecting off of it."

After another minute of slow but steady descent they passed through the thickest of the cloud layer into the more open air below.

"Whoa, they became visible sir. They're accelerating."

The two craft, both of them the distinctively large modified V-38's known as Tie Phantom's, passed by on either side of the shuttle. Once they were far enough ahead, both of them reduced speed to match that of the shuttle. Both flashed their running lights in sequence then began a slow turn off to starboard. Taking the hint, Jag turned to follow in their wake.

The two craft guided them steadily downward and then across rough terrain on the planet's surface. At length they dipped down into a canyon system and the rocky walls steadily rise up on either side of them. More than once Jag thought that the Tie craft leading them were about to collide with the canyon walls, only to find out that chunks of the rock had been strategically cut from the sides of the canyon allowing the two to fly side by side. The three ships passed though a dizzying number of turns, following the seemingly random branching off of the connecting canyons.

After one turn they passed under a distinctive outcropping of rock that reached clear across the top of the canyon forming a natural bridge. When Jag glanced back down less than a second later, both Tie craft had disappeared and they were now headed straight at a wall of rock. The proximity sensors and collision alarms hadn't gone off as they should have but Jag cranked back the throttle sharply just to be certain. Before the shuttle even began to lose speed they had passed through the fake canyon wall and could see the holo projectors creating the illusion.

Jag exhaled and returned the throttle to a more normal setting, continuing to follow the Tie Phantoms. Above their heads was now a solid roof made up of durasteel and, increasingly, of rock. Along the walls and floor of the slowly descending corridor were gun emplacements of varying sizes. Small Turbolaser turrets, Quadlasers, Ion cannon and even E-web positions tracked their progress into the base. A large armoured blast door parted to allow entrance to the approaching Ties and closed just behind the shuttle.

A short distance in after the doors was large underground landing bay was laid out between and around huge supports that held up the ceiling. Below the large platform that made up the lowest areas of the hanger was a lake that had formed from water seeping in along the tunnel. A square section of that platform lit up with landing lights and the Phantoms split off and headed for the large Tie racks in the highest parts of the bay.

Jag was careful to bring the Shuttle in slow so that the repulsors wouldn't kick up any wind and possibly annoy the group of officers and troopers forming beside the designated pad. The wings retracted smoothly and landing gear touched down on the pad without any jarring. Jag set the shuttle's ramp to begin descending and started the craft into an automated shutdown. Dorja meanwhile made his way back to the landing ramp where Taulen was already waiting, a Carbine holstered at either hip. When the ramp at last touched down the Admiral, at his insistence, lead the way.

The moment Dorja's boot hit the landing pad forty Stormtroopers and two Officers snapped to attention. Both he and the Commander returned the gesture and waited at the bottom of the ramp a moment longer for Jag to appear and also salute. A man wearing the uniform of an Army General stepped up before them.

"Admiral Dorja, welcome to the Emperor's Corporate Sector Palace. I'm General Ganmey Solange. It's my job to see to any unexpected arrivals here and carry out the appropriate actions. First though, while you're on base we'll have to confiscate any weapons you may be carrying."

Dorja and Fel both turned over their side arms while Taulen handed over both Carbines along with a boot knife and a holdout blaster that he'd hidden inside his uniform. Dorja glanced sideways at his Stormtrooper Commander. "How long have you had that holdout Commander? I never noticed it before."

The side of Taulen's mouth twitched as if he had almost cracked a smile. "Three years sir."

"Hmm..."

General Ganmey spoke up. "Gentlemen, if you will please follow me?" Then he turned and headed for a Turbolift along with the other officer and a pair of troopers. 

090


	91. Chapter 91

* * *

General Ganmey continued to speak to the Admiral as the group rode a turbolift to one of the higher levels in the facility. 

"This area we're in now and the launch bay are both part of one of the outer sites. You're going to find security here to be heavy, obviously so since the Emperor occasionally spends time here."

"Is it quite alright for you to be telling us all of this?" Asked Dorja at the Turbolift began to slow.

The General didn't seem to be bothered by the question. "Oh of course! I'm certain that all of your security checks will come back positive, otherwise you'll just be executed later on today."

The lift stopped and the doors hissed open. The General was out the door headed down another corridor before any of the three visitors could even respond to his last comment.

"We're heading for a viewing platform used by security. You'll be able to see the main Palace from there while we wait to hear back on what time you'll be meeting with the Inquisitor."

They had to wait through another turbolift ride before arriving in a large sprawling security office. Only a handful of officers were present in a room that seemed to be intended for upwards of forty. The outside wall was made up of a segmented transparisteel viewport that curved back to either side where they eventually met the sloped armoured wall that made up this side of the building they were in. A few paces in from the windows were a row of seats which helped divide the work areas of the office from the better viewing areas.

The General waved over an officer and talked to him momentarily before turning back to the group.

"If you all would be so kind as to wait here, I'll should be back within the hour." With that he headed back to the turbolift at a good clip. Two of the Stormtroopers took up guard positions at the boundary between the office area and the seating.

Jag sat and looked out through the nearest viewport at a large plain with distant mountains, and spotted a rather unremarkable com tower. To it's credit it was far enough away that it had to have been more than thirty stories tall. He glanced to either side through the other viewports and failed to spot any other structures above the surface.

"Is that the Emperor's resort Palace?" asked Jag somewhat sceptically, pointing to the tower.

The officer that had remained behind was nearby and heard the comment. "That?" he asked pointing to the tower Jag had indicated. "That's just a Com tower. Try getting closer to the viewport."

Jag looked over to the Admiral who was patiently waiting for the pilot to do as suggested.

He stood up and looked straight out, standing right in front of the viewport. This time his he noticed something out of place. The distant mountain range that he thought he'd seen before was in actuality one large mountain with a sharp top and sides steeper than any normal formation. A Tie Phantom streaking past in front of the huge man made structure snapped Jag out of his near dazed state.

"That must be nearly the size of the Imperial Palace in the Core Regions."

The other officer nodded. "It's roughly the same height, though it's hard to tell without all of the surrounding towers like on Coruscant, er, Imperial Center." None of the three visiting officers took note of the slip however as they took in the sight of the angular tower.

* * *

In the rooms filling the top most sections of the tower the three guests looked upon resided the Imperial Inquisitor. Adalric Cessius Brandl sat in meditation in one of the side chambers built for that purpose. A few days ago the Emperor had sent a powerful summons through the force to all of the Inquisitors, a warning to prepare if they had not already done so. A great calamity appeared to have befallen the Empire and now it's enemies were scrambling to gut the great beast that had for so long trampled them. The Troops and the Fleet under the Inquisitor's control -such as it was- had been made ready though the Corporate Sector as a whole was far from that state. 

What preoccupied him now in his meditations however was alerting his son to the danger. Jaalib Brandl was one of the half dozen or so Sith studying the ancient artifacts on Yavin left over by Exar Kun and his Massassi slaves. Despite being the site of one of the more important battles of the early Rebellion the entire region was still poorly defended.

The nearly imperceptible sound of the high speed turbolift coming to a halt at this level snapped Brandl out of his trance. The local staff officers were under orders to never disturb him at this hour of the day. He let Force lightning momentarily arc between his fingers in annoyance before quieting his mind and moving back towards the main chamber. Sitting down in the chair at the head of the audience chamber the Inquisitor pressed a button on the arm of the chair to signal that he has ready to the Imperial Guards outside.

One of the lower ranking officers, a Lieutenant Commander, had made the trip up to see him this time. When the doors slid open the man walked quickly to the normal spot in front of the room's 'throne' and bowed down on one knee.

"Rise." Commanded the Inquisitor.

"My Lord, an Admiral Dorja and two of his senior officers have just arrived. They've come from outside the sector. Our Intel database places the Admiral's fleet as usually patrolling the areas just this side of Yaga Minor."

"With no Hypercom it was inevitable that an Imperial fleet would be sent out at some point to update us. I find it odd that the fleet would send an Admiral from those areas and not something closer."

When the Inquisitor stopped thinking out loud the officer continued on.

"My Lord, General Ganmey reported that the Admiral was wearing rank insignia equivalent to High Admiral, not what was in our databank."

"They must have promoted him before sending him out here then. Perhaps some of the higher ranking flag officers were killed in whatever disaster the Emperor has warned about. In either case you were correct to disturb me with this news, but see that it doesn't happen in the future."

Almost as an afterthought the Inquisitor added. "Commander, please have the Admiral up to see me when he's available."

"Yes my Lord, immediately!" The officer bowed then fast walked back to the turbolift.

091

AUTHORS NOTE: _Gawd I got writers blocked on this piece no less than four times, I was just about to start slamming my head into my desk I was getting so annoyed. Then there were character names! Oh boy I get to look up whats-his-name from whatever-that-short-story-was for the who knows how many'th time. -Copy- "Uhl Eharl Khoehng" -paste- Who's going to remember that name off the top of their head? Honestly? _

_PS: Wait... what? First NSO story post that I finished writing in 2008:( _

Finally to Fanfiction(dot)net readers, appologies for lack of updates. 


	92. Chapter 92

* * *

Grand Admiral Burgan finished up reading the report that had been sent from Toprawa via the ships fleeing that area. " 'Multiple fleets sighted crossing the Hydian Way. Possible flanking maneuver. -Dorja.' Well that tears it." He muttered putting the datapad back into it's connector port on the side of his command chair. "I'm beginning to think this entire front of a feint."

General Richardson as usual was close by to comment. "But what about the local fleet sightings? We _have_ seen a fleet staging for an attack on Orb Biniir."

"The threat that fleet poses is still real but their primary reason for being here is to keep us pinned. Though if they can destroy us I'm sure they'd be happy to do so."

"What do we do about this?"

"Nothing at the moment. One third of our reinforcements have already been redirected to the Tion. Hopefully they can hold things together long enough for us to finish up here. How go the preparations?" asked the Admiral, changing the direction of the conversation slightly.

"We've fortified the planet with several divisions along with some local starfighter squadrons and Turbolaser emplacements. I'd like to have two of our older Frigates sit in orbit over each pole in case we need them to act as relays for the ground forces. Some Tie Bombers would also be handy."

"We can spare the Frigates you want but I think we'll need all of the Bombers in orbit. I'm glad you found some local starfighters to augment your troops Jerej, we just cant spare any even with Lancer Frigate support."

The General gave his friend a concerned look. "How many did we lose in that engagement last week?"

"Three full squadrons. Mostly Interceptors but some Elites as well. Dulgan Wren is dead."

"The Imperial Guard Captain? How did that happen?"

Burgan sighed. "He felt that if he was going to be acting as a body guard for high ranking officers like myself he needed to know what the Vong were like to fight against."

Neither spoke for a minute, instead just concentrating on the various displays around the command chair.

"Well, hopefully you won't need to abandon ship anytime soon." Jerej said at last.

* * *

The Strike Cruiser Termagant reverted to realspace on the edges of the Saffalore system.

"Here we are Major." said the ship's Captain, Groms Moreland, an officer grey with age who kept his scraggly beard just barely within Imperial regulations.

"Where do you want us now? It's your show Major, we're just along for the ride."

Radaf Netbers wasted little time in directing the crew to put this ship in a high orbit above the planet Saffalore.

"Com, put out a tight beam transmission to com satellite OVBX-031."

"We have a positive handshake signal Major." reported the junior officer.

"Good." He walked over to the console. "This is Termagant hailing Binring Biomedical Product. We need to reach Doctor Edda Gast immediately. Respond."

"Doctor!" shouted the voice through the open com. "A Strike Cruiser just entered orbit. They're demanding to talk to you immediately."

Edda Gast ignored the open com line for a moment as she used a laser scalpel to finish a cut then cauterized it. "There."

She stepped out of the experimentation room and removed the safety goggles before responding.

"Drufey, put them through to my main station."

"On it Doctor... you're green."

The Doctor punched the corresponding button on her consol. "This is Doctor Edda Gast, to whom am I speaking?"

"This is Major Netbers onboard the Strike Cruiser Termagant. Your Primary operations are being relocated Core-ward immediately. We can no longer guarantee that this location will remain secure. We'll need a secure landing zone to load project components. You are expected to relocate to the Core as well."

"What about the other projects that I'm head of? Most of them have already shown quite promising."

"If we can find additional room we'll consider taking equipment of your choice aboard. Now, we need landing co-ordinates ASAP."

"Understood, stay on this channel Major we should be able to give you a rough landing zone location in five minutes."

"We'll be waiting."

Dr.Gast hit the mute button then pulled her personal secure comlink out. "Drufey! We are Code Thirty Seven, bring in everyone with clearance you can find and get me a groundside landing dock that can handle a Strike Cruiser."

"A secure one? We'll need to use one of the CSA held dock-pits."

"Do what you have to. I don't care. If we need to drop troops from orbit or something just let me know."

092


	93. Chapter 93

* * *

The Command class Destroyer _Superior_ hung in space above Ord Biniir surrounded by the rest of the Grand Admiral's fleet, waiting. The enemy attack had to come here Burgan knew. Regardless of weather it was a feint or a full scale assault, Ord Biniir had to fall if the Vong were to threaten this region of the Imperial defensive line. Nearby Garqi was still the more lightly defended but was more accessible from Imperial supply lines. 

* * *

Dozens of light years away one of several probe droids deployed by the Imperial fleet continued scanning space with it's passive sensors. This same probe had first found the Yuuzhan Vong fleet as it arrived in the area and was now staging for an attack on Ord Biniir. Under close observation by the Imperials ever since, additional probes had been sent in to take a better look. Most of those were now destroyed, their movement or mass picked up by whatever far ranging sensors the Vong used.

After days of waiting the probe finally spotted the sort of movement it had been intended to warn about. It's small and expensive onboard holocom system transmitted a short data burst back to the Destroyer that had launched it, halfway back to the Imperial lines. That Destroyer instantly passed the data on to _Superior_.

The command ship's com officer, under orders to do so called over to the Grand Admiral. "Receiving transmission from the probe droid support ships... Vong fleet is en-route!"

"Battle stations! Com send a message to long range sensor contact 03597 to stand ready for combat. Now, how long until the Vong fleet arrives?"

"The probe was four light hours away from the enemy fleet position, travel time from that location is estimated at five hours."

The door to the nearest ready room hissed open and General Richardson fast walked onto the bridge buttoning up his uniform. "Are they here already?"

"Not yet. I'm guessing at anywhere from forty five minutes to an hour and a half."

"Are we going to sit at alert status that whole time?"

The Admiral nodded. "Yes. I don't want to risk standing down for a few minutes just for our enemies to jump right into an unprepared fleet. We wait."

"Then with your permission sir I'm going to put the ground forces on alert."

The two men saluted and Richardson went back to one of the open consoles at the back of the bridge.

"All ships reporting ready sir." relayed Superior's Captain.

"Very well, Activate gravity well projectors, use the pre-planned settings as called for in plan three."

"Aye sir."

"Active Well." reported sensors a moment later and a slight tremor ran through the ship.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the minutes ticked by. More than an hour passed with the fleet at full alert. Ready to either charge into battle or deploy to a new location to strike at enemy targets. Before true boredom could set in an alarm went off warning that the interdictors had picked up something.

"Reversion!" shouted the sensors officer.

A sizeable Yuuzhan Vong taskforce reverted inside the bowl shaped grav-well the fleet's interdictors had formed. Not wanting to waste a moment in the trap, every Imperial starship in range opened fire. Emerald green lances filled space wiping away some smaller Vong ships entirely and crippling a handful of larger craft.

The bridge of _Superior_ was instantly alive with battle chatter and incoming reports. One report that stood out for the Grand Admiral was; "Tie fighters are going in!"

Vong shard fighters were beginning to crowd space around their fleer, using their defences to soak off some of the capital ship fire. Right on que the Imperial fighter squadrons screamed in along their designated clear fire lanes and struck at the enemy fighters. Tie Bombers protected by their heavy shields fired on the Vong fighters with lasers and concussion missiles. The weapons officer onboard each Bomber trained Torpedoes or proton bombs on the enemy capital ships hiding behind the fighter screen.

Fire from both sides filled space.

* * *

The turbolift slowed to a stop in the highest reaches of the Imperial Palace in the Corporate sector. No noise issued forth as the door silently slid open, something unusual in Imperial construction. General Ganmey motioned for Admiral Dorja to step out into the dimly lit room. He was barely three steps into the room before the turbolift door closed behind him cutting off the additional light source. It took a few minutes for the older man's eyes to adjust to the dim light but at last he made out what looked to be throne on an elevated platform at the other end of the room.

"Welcome Admiral Dorja." came a voice that seemed to emanate from every part of the room.

"Greetings Inquisitor." Responded Dorja, who, lacking a location to direct the statement focused on the throne.

"You'll have to excuse my concealment. I believe there may be a Rebel on the loose somewhere nearby that has evaded security."

Instantly on alert, Dorja thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye in the darkness to the left. Slowing, he bent down as if to kneel before the hidden Inquisitor but in reality he palmed the small service blaster that had been returned to him. There was a sudden movement and Dorja rolled to the right onto his back firing the whole time. After the fifth shot he stopped firing realising he hadn't hit anything. Laying prone on his back he tried his best to look around the room.

The sound of one man slowly clapping his hands came forth from the direction of the throne. Rising the Admiral squinted to try to make out anyone that could be standing there. A man in a dark robe seemed to fade into view.

"Congratulations Admiral you passed my test, or at least met satisfactory results. I wished to see how your mind responded, to check for any signs of disloyalty you see. Your two other officers should arrive here shortly."

093 

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

_Sorry for the delay on posting. I needed to reword the Inquisitors test so that it didn't seem totally lame. _


	94. Chapter 94

Superior's bridge shook from incoming fire as a group of Corvette analogs attempted to strafe the bridge tower. A cloud of concussion missiles launched from several points on the surface of the huge Star Destroyer swarmed in on the small group of ships. Dozens of ball explosions ripped through the corvettes and turned them into a scattered debris field. Despite that threat being removed the Command ship continued to shake from Alien plasma fire.

"All ships are now engaged!" shouted the sensor officer over the dim of damage reports and alarms.

The Grand Admiral considered the situation his fleet was now in. Despite successfully ambushing the Yuuzhan Vong fleet, the aliens were starting to turn the tide of the battle with their strange but effective fleet co-ordination. The damage readouts for the ships in the fleet were starting to take on a general reddish hue. The Starfighters were holding their own for the most part this time but casualties were still mounting.

Using the display and sensor feeds built into his command chair Burgan zoomed in on a Cruiser analog. Turbolasers bolts were being swallowed by singularity voids at an astonishing rate. Looking closer he saw that the ship was slowly rotating, bringing new areas of the ship into view. If the Vong tech was supposed to be organic... perhaps whatever they used to project singularities got tired, he reasoned to himself. Calling up more data Burgan saw that all of the singularities used seemed to be roughly the same size.

"Weapons! Direct Turbolaser batteries ten through twenty to reduce power per shot and increase rate of fire."

"Aye sir!"

He watched as the more numerous lower power shots were each dragged in by singularities of the same size and intensity used for normal shots.

"Weapons, send new power settings to all guns. All even numbered guns are to use standard settings, odd numbered guns to switch over to low power-rapid fire."

The beleaguered weapons officer set about issuing the new orders and soon Superior was throwing out a far greater quantity of fire. Some of the Vong cruisers even started to back off giving the Destroyer more room.

"New weapons settings appear to be having an effect sir!"

"I'll certainly say so." Agreed the Admiral. "Com, transmit new weapons settings to all ships. There's nothing we can do to outfit the fighters right now."

Slowly but steadily, the Yuuzhan Vong defences were beginning to tire. The numerical superiority of the Imperial fleet was starting to weigh in. Even so, the Vong fleet were far from retreating, even renewing attacks on sections of the Imperial line where they were weakest.

Jerej made his way over to the Command chair from the aft stations and grabbed a handhold on the back of the chair. "I've got some refurbished Tie squadrons ready at the groundside bases if you need them. They don't seem to be showing any signs of deploying landing craft."

Burgan was about to dismiss the idea out of hand but changed his mind at the last moment.

"Can you bring them into low orbit? Wherever they'll be needed it won't take as long to deploy from there."

"Gotcha." acknowledged Richardson, then he moved off back to the aft stations.

No matter what the Imperial fleet did the Vong's eerie fleet coordination seemed to be countering it in record speeds. Despite what The Emperor's Hand had said about not sensing anything the Grand Admiral had to believe that this control was somehow telepathic.

A Cruiser toward the back of the Vong formation at last caught his eye. It was being protected more than most of the other heavy ships and seemed to be staying out of the worst of the action. The only other sensor contacts that were behaving in a similar fashion were damaged ships. Looking through friendly sensor contacts he found two Tie bomber squadrons that were close enough to make an attack run on the ship.

"Flight control, I want Tie Bomber Squadrons five and seven to attack the nearest enemy cruiser that's towards the back of the formation."

"Sir, there's a great deal of enemy fighter cover in that area."

"Bring in Interceptor support if you need to, I want that ship."

Out in the fighting the two Bomber squadrons expended the last of their concussion missiles attempting to punch a hole through the enemy fighter screen. An Interceptor squadron was making their way to support the bombers but it would likely arrive too late to be of much use. Shard fighters looped and dodged away from the slow moving bombers but were surprised on several occasions by the turning speed of the large craft. A Dozen Torpedoes streaked in toward the target cruiser on blue tails. Half of the missiles detonated early, unleashing their energy into singularity defences, but a handful struck the hull.

Before that group of bombers could get off a second volley a flight of Shard fighters accelerated straight into the path of their group and collided head on with them. The two remaining bombers from that squadron attempted to flee but were hit from behind by the remains of the Cruisers fighter screen. Of the second squadron only two Bombers were able to break through the fighting with the Shard fighters. Instead of torpedoes though these craft dropped unguided proton bombs. Fairly small in space terms and with no torpedo trail to give them away the explosives fell straight towards the hole in the Cruisers hull.

Five high yield Proton bombs detonated inside the hull of the Vong Cruiser analog. The bright flash of the explosion preceded the cruiser breaking up into four distinct pieces which drifted away from each other. Plasma swirled and burned off into space from some of the debris while bodies and small chunks drifted away from others. Immediately the entire Yuuzhan Vong fleet was thrown into chaos. What before had been the equivalent of a school of fish or a flock of birds moving together degenerated into something closer to a tavern brawl.

"What just happened?!" asked Jerej as he ran forward from his station. "It's like they took a headshot and are just in their death twitches." The General observed, eyes wide.

With coordination gone nearly half of the Vong starfighters were either ramming themselves into enemy capital ships or falling prey to the far more organised Tie squadrons.

"We've found it Jerej, we've found the weakness we were looking for."

The forward viewport dimmed as an explosion lit the battle. "We've just lost Demeritor!" yelled the sensor officer. Looking back at the displays Burgan saw that a large number of ships were taking heavy damage from the suicide runs.

"Or perhaps not quite the weakness that we were hoping for but it's something."

"Reversion detected. Two large contacts." Called out the sensor officer again, not having to yell as much at damage alarms dropped off.

"Put the new arrivals up."

"Large contacts. One is the equivalent of an Allegiance Destroyer the other... It's bigger than a type four Torpedo Sphere sir."

The images on the display screens resolved into the mountain like enemy command ship the fleet had encountered near Yaga Minor. Behind it though was an even bigger monstrosity, with branches that seemed to make the whole thing look like a spiral Galaxy.

"Enemy Fleet has regained coordination. They are conducting a fighting withdrawal towards the new arrivals."

094 


	95. Chapter 95

* * *

Every officer on the bridge of Superior not fully occupied with their duties watched the two huge Alien starships on the display screens.

"We're picking up forces deploying from both of the newly arrived ships. Frigate, Corvette and what appear to be landing barge Analogs."

"They're going to try to take the planet even after all of that. Jerej, are the ground forces ready?"

"As ready as they're going to be."

The fleeing Yuuzhan Vong fleet only backed away from the Imperial forces enough to reorganise their line and allow new fighters to arrive from the giant mobile base. Burgan scrolled through sensor screens and took note of the gap between the enemy fleet and the new arrivals.

"Com, signal the interdictors to extend their gravity wells out to roughly half of the distance to the enemy command ship. Once you've done that contact long range sensor contact 03597. Tell them to jump to our location then target the largest ship on their sensors."

As the fleets on both sides formed up into fighting units once again a new triangular shape appeared. Flashing out of hyperspace the new ship resolved itself into the fifteen kilometer long Sovereign class Super Star Destroyer_ Despot_. Once the great ship had fully completed it's reversion she began a hard turn to bring its Axial Super Laser to bear. More than a dozen squadrons of advanced Tie's swarmed from the ship's launch bays.

* * *

Shedao Shai, a Supreme Commander of the Yuuzhan Vong, looked out upon the battle just beyond high orbit of a planet called Ord Biniir by the galaxy's inhabitants. In the short moments after the arrival of Domain Shai and the great warship Legacy of Torment the Commander could see that his forces had taken significant losses. Such was the price of listening to his foolish second in command Deign Lian on this one occasion.

Shai ran his heavily scarred and tattooed hand over the living crystal making up this viewing port, sharpening the view. The hulls of more than one of his irreplaceable Mataloks were nothing but shattered remains now. Beyond were the white Triangular ships of the enemy. The straight lines and even the unnatural colour of their weapons showed them to truly be infidels beyond redemption in the many eyes of the Yuuzhan Vong Gods. But Yun-Yammka could still bestow upon the infidels one of Yun-Yuuzhan's greatest gifts; pain.

In the many dark hemispherical depressions that lined various recesses around Domain Shai's command room, clouds of blaze bugs stirred to life. The clouds of bugs wove together an image of the battle as seen from closer to the battling cruisers. The bugs continued to swarm however, making all of the ships in the image appear smaller and smaller as another enemy ship was placed between his forces and Domain Shai. Looking back through the viewing portal Shedao Shai spotted the new arrival, the largest infidel ship he had yet seen.

"Summon Deign Lian here immediately." Shai directed to his nearest aid.

The Blaze bugs continued to swirl and swarm in ever changing patterns representing newly arrived Infidel starfighters engaging his Coralskipper forces. All the while the great metal triangular aberration turned to point its bow in the direction of Legacy of Torment and Domain Shai.

Deign Lian entered the command center and bowed to Shedao Shai slightly while slamming his fists into opposite sides oh his chest in salute. "You called for me?"

"Look." Said Shai calmly, gesturing to the viewing crystal. As Lian moved to comply his commander continued speaking. "Look what your reckless counsel has brought to our fleet. Near and utter ruin!"

Deign Lian tensed, half expecting his powerful superior to strike him down where he stood.

"I would sacrifice you to the Gods this instant but for the knowledge the Intendant Caste has shown fit to bestow upon you. Perhaps they foresaw that you would yet need to remain alive to redeem yourself in the eyes of the Slayer."

Lian dropped down to his knees and offered his Coufee to Shedao Shai in the belated hopes that his failure would not dishonour both him and his Domain.

"Stand! I said I would not kill you at this time. Now tell me what you know of the monstrous infidel ship. Now!"

Deign Lian looked more closely at the ship and some of its features remembering the various briefings agents from the Intendant Caste had given him. Agents who received their information from the highly skilled and devious Nom Anor. His eyes went wide when he realised what sort of ship was before them.

"This is a Sovereign! The Intendant Caste suggested that no attempt be made to fight these ships with Cruisers. Instead we are to harry them with many, many, smaller ships."

Shai frowned. "Why is this?"

"They are armed with a Superlaser. A weapon many times more powerful than their normal weapons, capable of even destroying a Worldship it is said."

Realisation rapidly dawned on Shedao Shai and he turned to the others in the command center. "Direct all defensive voids forward! Legacy of Torment is to place itself between the large infidel ship and Domain Shai and protect us from any powerful attack!"

* * *

"Enemy Allegiance Analog is maneuvering sir." Reported Superior's sensor officer. "They're moving to protect the mobile base."

Burgan stood from his command chair. "Com! Tell Despot that they have to fire!"

Before the message could go through however the great ship's axial Superlaser fired. The beam was more than a hundred meters wide and crossed the distance to the large Vong cruiser in the blink of an eye. The laser washed over a dozen small singularities that had been put up in defence, those parts of the beam not pulled in bent around the event horizon of each void and struck the hull. The diffused beam struck the corral hull of Legacy of Torment instantly burning through the forward half of the ship. As the Dovin basals in the forward half of the ship ceased to exist, the remainder of the beam ploughed through the expanding ball of destruction that was once a ship.

The weakened beam continued straight on toward Domain Shai until it again encountered singularity defences. This time the beam warped and bent around the much more numerous defences before slamming into one of the spiral arms of the Worldship. Debris and bodies flowed away from the break in the Worldship's corral hull and soon holes leading into the interior were sealing themselves off, saving the rest of the thousands aboard. Of the Legacy of Torment however there would be little left.

095

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the delay in posting I've been busy IRL and totally forgot again. Jeez, I had this bit written months ago now.


	96. Chapter 96

* * *

Shedao Shai hauled himself back onto his feet and coughed once to expel the dust that had fallen from the Yorrik Corral walls during the impact. Looking back through the viewing crystal the Yuuzhan Vong commander saw the remains of Legacy of Torment expanding and blocking out much of the view of the infidel fleet. So would their view of Domain Shai be obscured.

Deign Lian came to his feet coughing and hacking from the dust.

"How many such ships do the enemy posses?" demanded Shai of his subordinate.

"Less than a dozen it is said, though they have even greater weapons the size of the largest Worldship."

"When you awaken find out how many of these ships may yet be able to endanger us."

"Awaken?" Lian began to ask just before the spiked back of Shedao Shai's fist took the inept commander in the side of the head. He then motioned to a pair of Reptoid slaves kept near the command center for clearing bodies.

"Place him in the nearest Embrace of Pain." As the Reptoids removed Deign Lian's unconscious form Shai turned back to the immediate problem at hand.

"Can we withdraw?" he asked of his Yammosk handler. The other, a lower ranking male of the same domain as he shook his head. "No great one. The infidels are using their own gravity well technology. To pull back from the planet will greatly weaken our Dovin basal defences."

"Then we shall attack. Deploy all forces we have and then remove Domain Shai to the edges of the system. We shall assault the planet with Yorik-trema and Coralskippers, then when the way is clear we shall drop our Fleet through the enemy forces and into the planets atmosphere itself."

* * *

"Despot reports that they'll need forty minutes to recharge their Superlaser for another shot."

"We did destroy one huge warship with that one shot and we might have crippled their mobile base too." commented Jerej.

"We'll have to get confirmation." Replied Burgan. "I want half of Despot's fighters to assist our fleet and the other half to cover them as they head out and inspect that Mobile Base Analog."

"Yes sir!"

Burgan turned back to Richardson. "The extra fighters and gunships the Vong threw into the mix before Despot jumped in are going to make things hard."

* * *

The bright flare of Despot's huge sublight drives was easily visible as the Sovereign began to accelerate away from the main battle and towards the thinning debris cloud. Two full wings of Shard fighters, survivors from the huge Vong warship came in on the Destroyers flanks, engaging similar numbers of Imperial fighters. One thousand Turbolaser Cannons and Batteries opened fire on the few alien starfighters that passed through the Imperial fighter screen unhindered. Five minutes later under sluggish acceleration Despot passed through the remains of the debris cloud.

Rear Admiral Tycho Reese, Despot's commanding officer looked out through the forward viewports expecting the find a crippled mobile base. Instead what he saw was the Yuuzhan Vong Worldship in quick retreat.

"Sensors report!"

"It's moving away at nearly twice our maximum acceleration sir. It was already moved beyond effective Turbolaser range. They'll be out of our gravity well range in a matter of minutes."

"Damn them." Reese cursed under his breath. "Where are the rest of the support ships that we saw them launch? The ones that didn't enter the battle."

"They're at... two seventy mark three hundred. Headed around the edges of the battle by the looks of it."

"Com inform Superior that the Mobile Base has fled and give them those support ship

coordinates. We won't be able to recharge our main gun before they jump."

* * *

"Fled?" repeated Burgan incredulously. "They've still got the rest of their fleet in system!"

"Perhaps they're leaving the fleet behind to buy their base time to escape?" Suggested the General.

"Sir, Despot also wanted us to know that they've detected a large force of Vong Landing craft analogs on a parabolic course toward the planet. We're picking up an escort force consisting of the more recently arrived Shards. Corvette and Frigate analogs have broken off from the rear section of their fleet to join them."

"Jerej!" The Grand Admiral called out.

"I see it." answered the larger man as he started typing on one of the aft consoles. He shook his head then marched back to Burgan's side. "My Tie forces in orbit won't be able to hold against that. I'll have to hit them on the ground when they land."

Burgan stared at his friend for a moment before saying. "Assault Shuttles."

"Right. Full load out plus some heavy troopers."

"Take what you need but no Tie bombers. Go."

General Richardson rushed from the bridge at a speed normally considered unbecoming of an officer.

096


	97. Chapter 97

* * *

The massive Worldship known as Domain Shai reverted to realspace at the edges of the Ord Biniir system. Undisturbed by the reversion Shedao Shai glanced back and forth, intently watching the patterns the blazebugs formed showing the continuing battle. A battle with little time remaining in it he knew.

"Inform Domain Esh and Domain Cha that we are fully engulfed by the enemy. They will be unable to break away in this region for some time."

One of the Villip handlers bowed and went to one of the nearby Villip choirs to relay the information. Another of the subordinate officers, next in line after the incompetent Deign Lian approached with a respectful poise.

"Supreme one, should we not evacuate the Worldship farther from the system? The enemy infidel sensing technologies may yet be able to detect us at this distance."

"No. We can move no farther from the system without severing the fleet's connection to our Yammosk." Shedao Shai reached up into the blazebug swarm and pointed to one area.

"There. This section of the enemy fleet is on the verge of crumbling. When that happens they must either throw themselves upon us or the survivors will have to pull back to their main force. There should be a momentary lapse in their coordination in either event. When that happens all forces will drive for the planet."

"Supreme one, at that range even the Mataloks will not last long against the remaining triangle ships."

"Better for them to die in that way than to simply wait for death to arrive from behind them." Shai responded then looked around before pointing to the huge swarm of blazebugs representing the largest infidel ship. "That one ship will devastate our fleet in but a few heartbeats should it get close enough and have enough time for their main weapon to rest. Now, tell all ships to prepare what Grutchins they yet have. They will launch them when they renew their assault."

* * *

"ISD Disruptor is rolling hard, Frigate analogs are maneuvering to continue fire on her unshielded sections."

"Weapons, fire when you have a clear shot." ordered Burgan.

Seconds later sixty of Superior's starboard Turbolasers launched a flurry of shots that burned through the hull of one of the Vong ships. A second Frigate turned and put Disruptor's bulk between herself and the Super Star Destroyer.

"Why haven't they concentrated fire one of the larger ships like Despot or Superior yet?" wondered the Admiral aloud. True the Imperial fleet was taking extreme levels of damage but without either of the largest ships badly damaged there would soon be little the Vong could do in space. Planet side however things were about to get bad. On the sensor screens Yuuzhan Vong troop transports and escorts were just reaching the surface.

* * *

Imperial troops were dug in across Ord Biniir's surface expecting a heavy assault. In the locations where the Yuuzhan Vong landed they received it. Shards and Blastboat analogs used the planet's gravity to speed their descent, raining plasma fire down on the shielded Imperial positions. Ground based Turbolasers, mostly made up of mobile emplacements opened fire from under the protection of the localised deflector shields. With shields falling fast it wasn't long before requests for support from Imperial troops began to pour in.

"This is fortified Position AC-532 we've got Vong Transports dropping right on top of us."

General Richardson hit a button on his Assault shuttle's Command console opening a responding channel. "Defend your position, reinforcements are on route."

The flight engineer looked over to the General. "Their main landing force is coming down right on top of the old Ordinance facility. They've got Frigate Analogs following into the atmosphere but most of them look like they won't actually land there."

"What do you mean?"

"They're angling more to the North East, the Ord building will still be hit hard but it looks like..." The Lieutenant pressed a few more buttons to triangulate sensors. "Like they're headed for more of our heavy groundside guns."

"The Upgunned Ion Cannons?"

"Aye sir."

"Why haven't those guns opened up on the Frigates?"

After a few more key stabs the officer replied; "They were in line with our main fleet, any shot that missed would have struck our own ships so they held fire. The Frigates are too low in the atmosphere now, the horizon is shielding them."

"Damn. Nothing we can do about that now, we don't have anything that can crack Frigates effectively. Pilot! Bring us in toward the Ordinance Building. We'll blast a hole through the rest of their landing forces and secure that location. Tie forces will follow us in."

Two dozen Imperial Assault Shuttles and Assault Transports dropped from medium altitude in delta formations, speeding in towards groups of Yuuzhan Vong landing craft. The Light Turbolasers on each shuttle opened fire, rapidly pouring out their surprisingly powerful beams. A small Vong transport caught by surprise exploded like a flimsiplast crate with a grenade inside. The formation drove into the ranks of Yuuzhan Vong ships sowing momentary confusion and scattering the Shard fighters.

The Shuttles swung around the old Ord building in a wide arc, being careful to stay clear of the heavier guns still in place on top of the old structure. The refurbished Tie fighters went in closer clearing away a few Shards that were still attacking the depot.

"Frigate Analogs are dropping ground forces North East, South East and Due West of the Ord building. Eighty kilometres out in each direction. Additional Corvette Analogs are forming a screening line to the North East along the general direction their main force is moving."

Jerej acknowledged the report and keyed the com. "Shuttle group, we're going to defend this position. We won't be able to get to the Ion Cannon bases without taking extreme casualties and wouldn't do them any good even if we got there."

The General looked to the shuttle's pilot. "Captain, deploy your shuttles to best protect the Ord building. We're not going anywhere for awhile."

097


	98. Chapter 98

* * *

Superior's bridge shook from yet another impact and a rain of fiery debris was clearly visible through the forward viewport.

"Frigate _Pride of Contruum_ has been destroyed." Called out the sensors officer. "We've lost our Command Tower defense group."

"Increase rate of fire for all guns surrounding the bridge!" ordered the Grand Admiral.

A flurry a green beams flashed outside the viewports and more burning debris struck the ventral shields. Over the shaking the admiral barely heard his personal comlink chirp.

"Richardson to Burgan, come in!"

Whipping out the small communicator the Admiral thumbed it on. "Burgan here, go."

"Groundside Ops are all turning sour. They're targeting the heavy guns we put in."

"Can you hold?"

"Yeah but we'll need a Vic to crack those Frigates they've got floating around. All we can do is sit on defense, the Ion cannon posts are on their own."

Burgan covered the com pickup. "Com, see if you can find any Carrack Cruisers that are unengaged. Send two of them groundside."

"Aye sir!"

"Jerej I'm sending a couple of Carrack Cruisers down. Things are getting borderline up here so be ready to pull out."

"Understood." And with that the two officers went back to their respective jobs.

Looking more closely at the fleet readouts Burgan began to realise there were serious problems brewing. If he didn't play things right the whole fleet might yet crumble.

"Pull Contrition back to rally point Delta, they're losing shields and we need her Turbolasers."

Even as that Star Destroyer started to pull back and attempt to disengage from the fighting other things went wrong.

"Sir! Destroyer Blunted Razor is losing power. They've suffered a Primary Drive failure."

"What?" Burgan resisted the urge to stand up out of his command chair to look out the viewports. "She's all that's holding up the rest of group four."

In that same ship group one of the Victory class Destroyers exploded, a series of internal fireballs ripping her apart from stem to stern. The diagnostics display that had represented that ship blinked with a red X before going dark.

"Blunted Razor, how long do they have?"

"Five minutes of power remaining."

"Tell them to abandon ship and pull all of the other ships from Group Four back to Group Three. Solidify the line there."

The Imperial line which had started as more of a concave shape was now fast deforming as more ships pulled back to Superior at her center. The formation as a whole was now drifting considerably closer to the planet. When the Imperial line stabilized however the Yuuzhan Vong forces that had been in pursuit failed to halt their advance. Instead they began to close even more rapidly.

Then the sensor readouts on the Vong capital ships began to blur.

"Sensors what is happening with the Vong fleet."

"Sir, the Vong ships are shedding debris, possibly some form of countermeasure."

"Sensors I want a picture of some of it, magnified. If it is something to help deflect lasers I want to see it in action."

A magnified image appeared on his viewer showing a shape that seemed familiar but at the same time out of place.

"Where is it that I've seen this before..." he wondered out loud. It wasn't long before Burgan became annoyed that he couldn't remember where he'd seen it, if only Jerej was here to bounce an idea off of. Suddenly the context of that thought brought forth images of a report from a month earlier at Garqi. Images of bugs that had flown up from the surface and torn into many of the starfighters that had been flying in the atmosphere.

"They're launching swarms of attack bugs! Weapons retarget to the swarms of smaller contacts! Don't let them reach the hulls of our ships!"

"We're increasing rate of Turbolaser fire, but there's thousands of them sir, we won't get them all in time."

"All capital ships now reporting similar contacts with more of the bug swarms." called out the com officer.

All across the battle Imperial ships turned their weapons on the swarming bugs, burning through hundreds of them but thousands still remained. As the Grutchins came into contact with energy shields their bodies began to resonate at the same frequencies as the defensive barriers allowing them to pass through unscathed.

"The attack bugs are penetrating our shields some how!"

"Find some way to stop them. Captain, prepare to repel boarders. Stormtroopers to check out any hull breach we suffer."

The operations officer in charge of maintaining the shields of the mighty command ship began adjusting the shield frequencies. For a moment he believed he'd found a frequency that repelled the bugs when some of them were thrown back, but soon more began to seep through the defenses.

"Sir, remodulating shield frequencies seems to be having only minimal effect but it is slowing them."

"That's something anyways." Burgan muttered, louder he said; "You get to keep your job."

While the bug attack continued Yuuzhan Vong ships were now passing through the Imperial fleet and accelerating. A Cruiser Analog fired broadside into Superior's Starboard shields knowing few of the Destroyers Turbolasers could be spared to return fire.

"Sir _Despot _reports that their Superlaser has finished recharge. They have a targeting solution for the nearest Cruiser Analog."

"Tell them to hold their fire!" Burgan all but screamed. More quietly to himself he whispered: "Emperor help me Reese, if you fire that Superlaser at my command ship I'll have your head."

Damage report diagnostics for Superior started to light up showing the minor hull breaches caused by the Vong attack bugs. Some of the damage reports however showed Turbolasers and cannon that were taking damage from the attacks. Before he could begin to direct additional Stormtroopers to help protect the guns however there was a strange thump from forward.

One of the attack bugs had landed on the external plane of Transparisteel making up the forward viewport. Its acid secreting mandibles started burning through the thick armoured viewport at an alarming rate.

"Stormtroopers to the bridge! Emergency Transfer of command to the secondary bridge!" Yelled Burgan as he leapt up, unholstering his service blaster.

The ship's captain at the same time called out. "Close emergency blast doors zero zero."

Druasteel plate dropped down in front of the inner transparisteel planes.

A Stormtrooper security team entered the space between the two layers of viewports from a side access door and deployed a tripod mounted E-web. When the Grutchin's head at last came through the viewport, venting the compartment's atmosphere, some twenty Stormtroopers opened fire before the rest of its body could come through. Once the bugs remains had been burned away the Troopers waited, unbothered by the lack of atmosphere in their vacuum sealed armour. Three more Grutchins landed on different parts of the viewports and started burning new, larger holes.

* * *

Dexen Thegas, Superior's Captain waited at the back of the bridge as the last of crew abandoned the command center. Admiral Burgan stopped on his way out. "Captain let's get to the secondary bridge."

"Admiral, with your permission I'd like to suit up for vacuum and remain here with the Stormtroopers just in case."

"I suppose that's your prerogative, but we need all of these controls locked out in case of suicide attack."

"Understood sir.

The two men saluted and went their separate ways. Burgan was just stepping into the turbolift when there was a huge explosion that rocked the ship, lifting him a foot into the air. The turbolift door shuddered closed before the car started its descent.

"Burgan to secondary bridge, report. What was that last hit?"

"Attack bugs sir, they chewed their way into the Bridge deflector arrays. The Topside domes have both exploded taking out the bridge shields."

"Tell Despot to close as fast as they can, try and target the Vong ships with their Turbolasers."

"Sir the Vong fleet is dropping into the atmosphere."

"What do you mean into the atmosphere?"

098


	99. Chapter 99

* * *

Shedao Shai watched the blazebug swarms with great intensity. Grutchins were even now tearing at nearly every ship in the infidel fleet but even the great numbers of the voracious pests would not be enough to destroy a fleet the size of the one present. Despite their protests at leaving enemies behind that they could now easily kill, Shai's commanders followed their orders: escape.

Supreme Overlord Shimrra himself had Commanded Warmaster Tsavong Lah and his Supreme Commanders to preserve as many warriors as possible through the early stages of the war. This conflict would be long and the infidels numbered many. Shai knew that his forces could defeat the great Superlaser wielding Destroyer if properly prepared for the battle. That would take time not available at the moment.

The powerful Yuuzhan Vong Cruisers and the many other smaller ships dove from the midst of the Imperial fleet and down towards the planet. The pull of the planetary gravity well meant that the ship's Dovin Basals had to expend little effort on movement and could concentrate more on defence as they dropped away from the now disorganised Imperial fleet.

Despot, which was still accelerating but had built up speed by now changed course, bringing her nose relative up and swinging around the Imperial Fleet. Her heavy Turbolasers fired at maximum range but the Vong and Despot's diverging courses soon meant that the Turbolasers were out of range. The Yuuzhan Vong fleet had entered Ord Biniir's upper atmosphere at high speeds and were now using most of their Dovin Basals to propel them at many times faster than the sound barrier.

* * *

Grand Admiral Burgan didn't even bother hiding his astonishment at the new tactics when he finally reached the auxiliary bridge.

"Sir Despot is requesting permission to fire their Superlaser."

"Fire it where, into the atmosphere?"

"Yes sir."

"We've still got troops down there... but it's not a bad idea. Com put me though to Richardson."

After a long moment the com officer finally got through to the General. The sound of heavy blaster fire could be clearly heard in the background. "Richardson here sir!" he shouted to be heard over the weapons fire.

"Jerej, we're going to fire a Superlaser shot through the upper atmosphere. You're going to get hit hard by the air burst, can you either evac or dig-in in the next five minutes?"

"We can dig in here, but anything closer to the horizon is done either way!"

"We read you. You have four minutes or less."

"Sithsp-" The General's curse was half cut off as he rushed to get his men under cover.

Burgan turned back to the com officer. "Com get me a channel to Despot."

"Open sir, Captain Reese is waiting on the line."

Picking up his comlink Burgan asked. "Reese?"

"Here sir, waiting for your command."

"Just what I wanted to hear Tycho. I want you to fire the Superlaser through the upper atmosphere as close to the enemy force as you can get without touching the surface. If you hit the surface our groundside prefab bunkers won't survive even if they're on the _other_ side of the planet."

* * *

The bulk of the Yuuzhan Vong fleet began crossing over the planet's horizon. Out of line -of-sight from the Imperial fleet they would soon be able to pull away from the planet on the side farthest from the Imperials, ruining any chances of pursuit. Then the Green beam lashed out again from the largest Infidel ship, passing through the atmosphere and turning whole swaths of air into burning plasma.

The air above the planetary horizon literally exploded, the first blast waves crushing a Yuuzhan Vong cruiser roughly the size of a Star Destroyer. Frigate and Corvette analogs far enough away to not be instantly destroyed were thrown thousands of meters off course. Whole squadrons of Coralskippers were washed away. The expanding shockwave slammed into the ground and spread out, rippling through the planet's atmosphere.

* * *

Jerej Richardson, along with more than a few of his men threw himself under a disabled grav sled in the lower levels of the Ord Building. "Anybody without full Stormtrooper gear, hands over your ears and open your mouth! DO IT NOW!"

The Supersonic shockwave hit the area shortly after, taking the top half of the Ord building with it. The back blast that followed was powerful enough to throw AT-AT walkers that had survived the initial blast. Yuuzhan Vong troops left out in the open in their advance were unprepared, killing many of them with debris despite their living armour.

* * *

As the huge blast wave subsided the surviving Yuuzhan Vong ships recovered and continued on course. Of their cruisers only two had been lost to the Superlaser and the exact numbers of Frigates and corvettes were difficult to determine as many of them remained hidden on the surface among debris while they healed. While Shedao Shai was unhappy with the number of casualties the infidels had twice fold inflicted with their Superlaser, he knew enough of his fleet yet survived to continue the campaign.

* * *

The ancient and crumpled blast doors of the Ord building's lowest levels blew outward from combined laser cannon and concussion grenade fire. A modified AT-ST lead the way through the destroyed door followed by the survivors that had taken cover in the lowest levels. The rubble of the upper levels was strewn across the ground to the south west stretching out several hundred meters. Broken AT-AT's and floating fortresses littered the ground around the site and troopers rushed to see what could be salvage.

It took General Richardson a few minutes to notice that he was not only hard of hearing despite being equipped with infantry grade earplugs but also seemed to be covered in blood. He'd bit almost clear through his lower lip without realising it during the blast. After another few minutes of disorganised confusion he finally found an officer in charge of the remaining AT-ST forces.

"Captain how are your walkers?" He asked and the two men traded loose salutes.

"We've got a Dozen or so AT-ST's that the shipboard techs modified. Most of them were under cover and survived the blast. AT-AT's are a write off but that floating fortress might be fixable."

"We need to get patrols out into the forest, find any Vong walkers that are out there wounded before they do."

"I hear you on that sir, we don't have any AT-AT's to draw fire like on Garqi."

"See about setting up a command station would you? I'm going to go scare up some medical supplies, I think I broke something in that blast."

"Aye sir. Should I call you if we get communications back up with the fleet?"

Jerej reached into the small comlink holder on the side of his combat armour and pulled out a broken mess. The pocket was right in line with approximately where it seemed he'd cracked some ribs. "Send a runner for me if you can spare one."

099

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: I still feel the ending to the battle was a bit too abrupt but haven't thought of an appropriate way to modify it. Ideas? Let me know.)


	100. Chapter 100

* * *

The ancient and crumpled blast doors of the Ord building's lowest levels blew outward from combined laser cannon and concussion grenade fire. A modified AT-ST lead the way through the destroyed door followed by the survivors that had taken cover in the lowest levels. The rubble of the upper levels was strewn across the ground to the south-west stretching out several hundred meters. Broken AT-AT's and floating fortresses littered the ground around the site and troopers rushed to see what could be salvage.

It took General Richardson a few minutes to realise that he was not only hard of hearing despite being equipped with infantry grade earplugs, but that he also seemed to be covered in blood. He'd bit almost clear through his lower lip without realising it during the blast. After another few minutes of disorganised confusion he finally found an officer in charge of the remaining AT-ST forces.

"Captain how are your walkers?" He asked and the two men traded loose salutes.

"We've got a Dozen or so of the AT-ST's that the shipboard techs modified. Most of them were under cover and survived the blast. AT-AT's are a write off but that floating fortress might be fixable."

"We need to get patrols out into the forest, find any Vong walkers that are out there wounded before they do."

"I agree with that sir, we don't have any AT-AT's to draw fire like on Garqi."

Richardson looked over the debris covering the area. "See about setting up a command station would you? I'm going to go scare up some medical supplies, I think I broke something in that blast."

"Aye sir. Should I call you if we get communications back up with the fleet?"

Jerej reached into the small comlink holder on the side of his combat armour and pulled put a broken mess. The pocket was right in line with approximately where it seemed he'd cracked some ribs. "Send a runner for me if you can spare one."

* * *

Grand Admiral Burgan paced the Auxiliary bridge, watching status displays over the shoulders of the other officers. He had spent the last hour attempting to form his fleet into something resembling a battle group. Refueling the surviving starfighters had begun as soon as the Yuuzhan Vong fleet had jumped out and those units that had taken the least damage now patrolled space around the fleet.

"Bridge to Admiral Burgan."

The admiral stabbed a button on the console of his command chair. "Burgan here, go ahead."

"This is Thegas sir. We've nearly cleared the bridge but some of the bugs have destroyed several control consoles. We'll need to conduct a final sweep to make sure the bridge is secure before the damage control teams start replacing equipment."

"Time?"

"Ten or twelve hours at the very least sir."

"Keep me updated. I want into the bridge as soon as it's habitable again. "

"Aye Sir."

Though tired from combat, Burgan needed to set things in order before any kind or rest break could even be considered.

"Com, attempt to contact the ground forces again, see if General Ricardson is still alive. We'll need to coordinate with them to see if any further orbital bombardments are necessary."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Ensign Keer Orainn rushed from the hastily rebuilt command center and hopped on one of the few working speeder bikes remaining. After a com blackout of several hours, contact had finally been restored with the Imperial Fleet. Kicking in the throttle the ensign headed out towards the western side of the Ord building intent on finding the General.

On the way he passed a pair of modified AT-ST's that were heading out on patrol duty. Each one had an additional pair of laser cannon crudely attached to the sides. Extra armour had been welded onto each of the legs and a larger power pack to support the lasers was attached to the back of the AT-ST's 'head.' General Richardson had personally overseen a crew of techs modifying the vehicles for most of a week following the first ground conflict at Garqi.

To the west and south of the Ord building where once had been a grass field was now a debris pile. Huge blocks of stone and other materials that had made up the upper leves of the structure had been taken clear off by the airburst caused by the Superlaser. In between some of the largest blocks the troops had set up a medical station, possibly hoping the debris would provide some cover in an attack.

Ensign Orainn found General Richardson inside tending to the wounded along with two other medics and some less badly hurt up Stormtroopers.  
"This one is going to need blood ASAP!" yelled Richardson and an orderly rushed out attempting to find more supplies.

"Sir, we have communications back up. The Grand Admiral wishes to speak with you as soon as possible."

The General nodded. "Tretcher!" He shouted "Look after this one, I'll be back in five minutes."

Richardson stood and took the comlink the other officer held out for him. "Thank you ensign. do you have any medical training?

"Not really sir, just triage."

"That's better than nothing. Get in there and do what you can."

The General turned away and activated the comlink. "This is Goundside go ahead."

"Jerej, I was starting to wonder if you'd made it or not." came the Admiral's voice. "What's your status down there?"

"Calling it a mess would be too generous. We lost all of our heavy vehicles in the blast and the shuttles are out of comission until we get repair teams down here to work on them. We've only got AT-ST's and speeder bikes that were in the Ord building's bunker."

"Any chance our forces closer to the blast survived?"

"Not unless their bunkers had better concussion shielding than Star's End. Have things in Orbit cleared up?

"For the moment." The Admiral sighed. "It's going to take us a few days to salvage all of the ships we lost up here. I'll start sending teams down to reinforce your position and begin repairs in another 2 hours. I want a status update on the situation groundside this time tomorrow."

"Understood, and Admiral?"

"Yes Jerej?"

"This was some serious fighting today. We gave and took some heavy hits. Do you think we're finally starting to cut into their numbers?

"We have to hope so. In the name of all the good the Emperor has wrought, we have to hope that these Yuuzhan Vong are not limitless. That we are _not_ facing and endless Dark Tide."

100

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Holy cow, back on the wagon after all this time. Really sorry for how long it's taken me to get back at this. Life goes on and gets in your way some times.]


	101. Chapter 101

* * *

Deep at the heart of the galaxy heavy armoured doors slid open as a cloaked figure approached. The doors snapped shut the instant the figure had finished crossing the threshold, dropping the room into darkness. A faint light slowly began to fill the large circular room, reflecting off of the black faceted shape of an occupied throne.

"Ah my dear." Echoed a desiccated sounding voice. "It has been some time since we saw each other face to face."

Mara Jade bowed before the Emperor. "How may I serve you Master?"

Palpatine reached forward slightly and gripped what looked to be a crystalline walking staff that was held in place on the floor. With his other hand he flipped a switch on the side of his chair. A clunking sound could be heard from the floor of the room followed by the rumbling of heavy equipment moving. At the edges of the room large cylindrical obelisks rose out of the floor. When the pillars halted Mara realised that she could no longer feel the pair of hidden Imperial Guard outside through the Force. Each of the pillars -which were several meters apart- had to contain several ysalamiri apiece for their force repelling bubbles to extend so far.

Palpatine's cackling laughter filled the room. "Good! It would appear Desann has proven himself more useful than even he could ever realise. Not since before the death of Jerec has one of my Inquisitors proven so adept at finding relics and objects so useful at aiding access to the Force."

Mara knew what that meant. Jerec had sought to find power enough to overthrow Palpatine himself. Worried that he might attempt a coup much like Grand Admiral Zaarin had, Imperial Intelligence inserted spies into the Inquisitors fleet. Their orders had been to report on the progress of the small fleet Palpatine had assigned Jerec and interfere if it became necessary. The fleet had disappeared somewhere in the Outer Rim and it was nearly a year before the remains of a Star Destroyer were found crashed on a barely habitable planet.

The emperor had sent her in to search the planet for any artifacts that might have been left behind, but if there were any they had all been pilfered before her arrival.

"I have two most pressing missions for you my hand. First, investigate Desann and find out if any of the new force technologies he has brought forward are related to Jerec's disappearance. Don't bother looking for Jerec himself, he is long dead. I want to know if Desann is plotting to overthrow me. If he is planning to do so within the year you are to report back before disposing of him."

"It will be done my master."

"Of that I have no doubt. Your other less pressing mission is to find Darth Vader's secret apprentice. I know he has been attempting to hide one from me for some time."

"Why look for this apprentice now my Master?"

"Vader may be strong in the Force but with so much of his flesh replaced by machinery he will not live much longer. He would need a powerful apprentice to overthrow me and take the cloning tanks he needs to rebuild himself. He may even be using one of the Rebels."

"What do you wish done with this apprentice?"

"Do as you please but keep him away from Vader at all costs. However... I may eventually have use for this apprentice to replace Vader. Kill him only if necessary."

"I understand."

Palpatine nodded absently, gripping another crystalline walking staff, one that wasn't fastened to the floor. "I wish to test something. Hold the opposite end of this staff and brace yourself as you would against a Force attack."  
While she may have inwardly wondered at the idea of doing so inside of a force repelling bubble she had served the Emperor for too many years to ever question such a simple order.  
As she grasped the green crystal she thought she could feel wisps of the Force. Something that was impossible inside the ysalamiri bubble she knew.

Her attention was broken as burst of force lightning carried through the staff and struck her.

The blast of energy threw her back three meters but the attack stopped the moment her hand had released the crystal. It took her a moment to recover but she was soon climbing to her feet again, listening to the Emperor cackle in perverse amusement the whole time.

"Good! I can only hope that Desann has not yet realised what he has discovered by unearthing these crystals. Be aware my Hand that the Chistori has had many years to study how one can tap the force potential of these crystals. If he were not as brilliant as he is I never would have had use to keep him alive this long. Do not underestimate his cunning."

"Yes my Master." Mara breathed.

Palpatine flipped the switch on his chair again and the pillars began to retract back into the floor.  
Noting the dismissal Mara bowed more deeply before rising to leave.

When the doors parted to allow her egress a young man was standing on the other side. Irek Ismaren offered the slightest nod to Mara before stepping to the side and into the chamber. When she was halfway down the hall Mara glanced back over her shoulder to be certain the dark charactered young man wasn't following. To say that his unnatural presence unnerved her would be putting it mildly. She had the distinct feeling that she would be better off not knowing whatever the Emperor and Ismaren were planning.

101


	102. Chapter 102

* * *

Adalric Brandl opened his eyes and took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the heavily filtered air of the upper reaches in the Emperor's Corporate Sector Palace. Looking down he willed his hands to unclench from a pair of crystalline handles. Stepping back he took in the sight of the ring shaped crystalline construct. The Emperor himself had overseen its installation and there were rumoured to be similar items on Coruscant and Byss. With crystals like this someone powerful enough in the Force could stretch his mind across vast distances and communicate with nearly any other Force user.

It was rare that its use was needed but these were extraordinary times. He and Emperor Palpatine had communicated mind to mind. It was something few Sith would wish to do, for fear that the Sith Master would find any plots harboured against him.

The Inquisitor stepped onto a lift and began his descent towards the tower's Throne room.

"Finally." Whispered Commander Taulen down below. The three of them had been waiting for what must have been several hours while the Inquisitor had retreated to the upper most levels of the tower. While they straightened their uniforms Jag leaned in slightly closer to the other officer so that he wouldn't have to raise his voice. "I would have expected a Stormtrooper officer to have a great deal of patience."

Taulen shrugged. "I don't mind waiting if there's something to shoot afterwards."

Dorja and his two officers walked to the center of the room directly in front of the throne again and stood at attention.

The lift reached floor level and stopped with barely a whisper.  
"At ease Gentlemen." Said Inquisitor Brandl in a calm voice.  
"I've looked over the briefing material you brought with you Admiral... It certainly seems that we live in interesting times."

The Inquisitor sat on the throne and seemed to ponder the situation momentarily. He looked up and stared at Dorja with an unblinking gaze. To the old Destroyer Captain the Inquisitor's eyes seemed like the depths of the deepest gas giants, dark and murky with the crushing power of many atmospheres. He realised this coldness and malevolence went beyond what any human being had the right to grasp.

His resolve hardened; if this creature wanted to take one last measure before sending him away, possibly to his death than so be it.

"Admiral." Dorja snapped out of the trance like state he seemed to have been caught in and glanced back to the Inquisitor who had stood up.

"Admiral return to your fleet, I will see to organising the Corporate Sectors Defenses."

"What of the Imperial citizens still trapped here, and the other local assets we may still need in the Core?"

"Everything will be taken care of Admiral, rest assured. In the time it will take for you to reach your ships, fully half of the Imperial assets in the sector that can be relocated will already be assembled. Your shuttle will remain here. I am granting you a special... honour as it were. I'm giving your a Cloaked Fighter Admiral, along with a small escort. I'm sure you'll find ways to put them to good use in this new war." 

* * *

The three officers were lead back into the main hanger bay at a different level from before. A pair of odd looking Tie craft sat poised and ready in launch racks. They were reminiscent of Tie Raptors but had a more curved shape to their wing arrays. Each of the forward wingtips were capped with a standard SFS Laser cannon while a pair of launchers were built into the sides of the cockpit.

"What are they?" Asked Jag after giving the vehicles a quick look over.

"Chiss Clawcraft." Said General Ganmey as he walked over. "I understand they were a gift of sorts. These two are even more special, they're fitted with hyperdrives." He turned to another officer standing nearby. "Captain?"

"Sir." responded the man, saluting.

"This is Captain Rannek. He's served in the Chiss Territories and is our resident expert on these craft. He'll also be your escort on your return to Bonadan. Captain, you're being transferred to Admiral Dorja's command."

From elsewhere in the bay one of the large Cloak fighters disengaged from its docking clamps and rose to their level on Repulsors.  
Ganmey turned to Dorja. "Admiral, if you'll step this way we'll get you some life support gear before your flight." 

* * *

Twenty minutes later the two Clawcraft sped down the canyons that had head into the base hangers. Jag kept a close eye on his speed and throttle so as to allow the much larger and bulkier V-38 following them to keep pace.

Dorja sat strapped into one of the two rear seats in the cramped Tie Phantom cockpit.  
Rock outcroppings flashed by seemingly so close that he could have reached out and touched the canyon walls.

"No worries Admiral, we fly this canyon every day. We've never lost any of these craft."

"Makes you wonder what they did lose... Sir." Taulen muttered.

Captain Rannek's voice issued from the com unit. "Colonel Fel please drop back so that we may proceed single file."  
"Copy that, reducing speed."

After a slight delay a new set of voices came over the same channel.  
"You are greenlight for atmospheric launch, repeat you are greenlight. Tube is active, gate is opening."  
"Roger that control." replied Rannek. "Follow my lead sir."

The flight swung around a tight right corner in time to see the doors of a hidden entrance pull apart on the far wall of the next turn. Captain Rannek's Clawcraft slowed slightly before entering the hidden tunnels. Given no other real choice Jag's craft and the V-38 slowed as well before entering. Small dim marker lights illuminated the edges of the tunnel for the pilots for several hundred meters until it began to widen out.

In the darkness making up the far end of the tunnel were bright warning lights in the shape of an arrow pointing upwards.

The Captain pulled up, putting his fighter on it's tail and flew 90 degrees straight up.

"Hang on Admiral." said the Phantom pilot as ahead of them Jag's fighter copied the maneuver. Following suit the V-38 pilot pulled up sharply, and then the vehicles occupants were looking straight up the shaft of what appeared to be a large conduit. "Express turbolift to orbit, going up."

Before Dorja could look more closely at the tunnel walls he was pushed back into his seat. The concentric rings making up the tunnel shaft flashed past impossibly fast and were soon replaced by open air. Looking to the side he could see the planet's surface falling away and becoming obscured by the local cloud cover. In less than a handful of breaths they were into orbit and speeding away from the planet.

"What did we just go through?"

"High power launch Repulsor." answered the Co-pilot. "It took us awhile to get it working properly. First it blasts a hole through the atmosphere just ahead of us so that when _we're_ accelerated the friction doesn't tear our vehicles apart. Pretty effective don't you think?"

"I should say so. Now hopefully the hyperdrives on this vehicle are just as effective."

102


	103. Chapter 103

Ensign Keer Orainn climbed up and over the trunk of a large fallen tree. When he reached the top he scanned the jungle ahead for any movement before jumping down. To either side of him Stormtroopers did much the same thing, a line of troops moving steadily forward. Just behind them AT-ST's, all of them Modified, crunched through the splintered and collapsed foliage.

This planet had always been sparely populated, allowing the trees and forests to grow to impressive heights. After the planetary airburst most of the woodlands were now a horribly tangled mess. The General didn't want to risk repulsor vehicles floating over the forest and becoming easy targets for anyone in hiding below. So they headed out on foot, cordoning off grid sectors one at a time.

Overhead wing pairs of TIE craft patrolled the skies at altitude. So far there had been no need to rely on them for close air support. All of the enemies encountered so far were dead; crushed by trees and other thrown debris.

'Just as well' Keer thought.

He hadn't joined the Imperial Navy to go traipsing through underbrush practically asking to get shot. He'd been a ship board security officer for nearly two years, mainly tasked with overseeing cargo loading operations. The General knew they were short on troops following Garqi, but replacements still hadn't reached the front lines. He was unwilling to strip the full Stormtrooper compliment from every ship fearing possible boarding actions. Rather than leave the planetary garrison undermanned, the General had pulled non-essential security personnel and assigned them groundside.

Half of the troops in this cobbled together unit were from Fleet Security Regiments like his own. Of the Imperial Army personnel that had been deployed on-world, the majority had been killed in the airburst. The survivors mainly consisted of armoured vehicle crews that had been protected from the overpressure. He glanced over his shoulder towards one of the AT-ST's. The walkers Laser cannon swivelled back and forth as the gunner constantly looked for a target. All of the remaining Army crews seemed to have itchy trigger fingers permanently now, just waiting for the chance to get even.

After marching through fallen jungles for what had to have been hours the troops began to hear a noise in the distance. Picking up the pace, the forward line did their best to speedily cross the distance between them and the disturbance. As the men approached they could clearly hear a sickeningly deep bellowing shriek from up ahead. The concentration of fallen tree trunks increased forming a low mound that shifted and shook with the noise.

"Enemy contact!" reported one of the Stormtroopers. "We have a downed Artillery Beast."

A dozen troops scrambled over the debris pile trying to find a place where they could get a clear shot at the wounded monster. The slight shifting of the mound did little to dislodge the pile of broken trees or the troops atop them. A Stormtrooper reached the top and looked around in every direction then shook his head.

"I don't see any clear way to get aaAAAA!!!" the man screamed then fell backwards clutching his leg. A Vong warrior dragged himself out from under the trees he'd been using for cover. His ability to conceal himself was easy enough to understand: His armour all seemed to be the same colour as the tree bark. Yanking his weapon free of the trooper's leg he whipped it towards the downed man's neck. An audible crack was heard as his neck and faceplate were both broken by the blow.

Three or four men shouted out "OPEN FIRE!" and started blazing away with weapons on automatic. The Vong grabbed the front chest plate of the dead trooper and pulled the body into the line of fire, acting as a crude shield. Blaster bolts slammed into the dead mans back burning large holes and filling the air with the smell of charred human flesh.

The closest trooper pulled a small explosive from his utility belt and yelled. "Grenade everyone back!" then pressed the delay trigger on the end of the small stick. Before he could throw however he was hit by a gelatinous mass. It broke as it hit, spreading over his armour and sticking before contact with the air caused it to ignite. Instantly covered in flames that were seeping through the cracks and lining of his armour, the man dropped his grenade. He had the chance to emit only the briefest of screams before the explosive went off. Two nearby soldiers were blown off their feet, one being thrown down the steeper side of the hill and landing on his head hard enough that his neck was surely broken.

The nearest AT-ST, seeing that the scattered troopers were far enough away from their target, turned and launched a concussion grenade. Keer dropped, grabbing hold of a nearby branch and putting his other arm up to ward off any debris. The vehicle launched grenade exploded with a much larger blast radius than that of the trooper's weapon. Tree branches exploded, shrapnel flew in every direction, and enough dust was thrown up to cover the entire area with the equivalent of a thick fog.

Not waiting for the dust to settle Keer switched to holographic imaging and charged forward. Topping the small crater of tree debris he carefully surveyed the remains. Alien body parts littered the area, seeming mostly intact but definitely not attached to a torso or other large object.  
"Clear!" he reported.

The debris pile shifted as the artillery beast groaned in pain once more. Once the dust had finally thinned out the walker commander activated his com.  
"Ok, things look fairly clear from up here. Somebody pile on some thermal detonators and kill that thing. I want to be moving on in another fifteen minutes understood?"

The troops did as instructed, stringing together a half dozen of the metallic spheres and lowering them into the mass of trees. After activating a 5 minute delay timer they backed away to a safe distance. A few minutes later the weapon's reaction atomized everything inside of fifteen meters. The remaining trees and debris collapsed down into the hole created. No sign of the Vong artillery creature was left.

One of the army personnel spoke up as they began to move out. "If I survive this tour remind me to buy stocks in thermal detonator producing companies. I think they're going to make a lot of money this war."

103


	104. Chapter 104

Commander Brinn Tolas stood before Grand Admiral Burgan on Superior's secondary bridge.  
"We've completed final counts on our Starfighter losses Admiral. We've lost sixty four percent of our Tie craft, but most of our Advanced fighters took less in the way of losses. Defender Squadrons, A-9's, I-7's, Missile Boat's, etc, we're looking at about twenty five percent for them."

The Admiral wasn't happy with the sustained losses, especially in what was supposed to have been a trap. Then again even the best laid plans tended to not survive contact with any enemy. He shrugged off the vehicle losses. SFS could produce new Tie craft to replace anything the fleet lost, they always had. The only problems at the moment were getting them to the lines fast enough.  
"Pilot casualties?"  
"Roughly forty percent not counting relief crews."

Burgan tapped at a datapad.  
"We lost more support ships that I would have liked. Have we received any repair estimates on the Star Destroyers?"  
"Only from a handful of them so far."  
"Make sure the most heavily damaged ones concentrate on their hyperdrives above all else. I'd rather send half of my force back for repairs than lose them."

"Understood sir. I'll contact the appropriate ships immediately."  
Burgan nodded once to the Commander to proceed then turned to his left.  
"Coms connect me to Despot."

"Channels Open."

The holographic bust of Admiral Reese materialized over the right arm of Burgan's command chair.  
"Anything I can do for you sir? Because the Superlaser is working better than I've ever seen it."

"I can only image the terror you'll cause for the Rebels once we get around to them. No Tycho I don't have any combat plans for you just yet. Your ship took the least amount of damage and has the largest crew resources. I want you to start sending damage control teams to the other ships and Star Destroyers. We need to get this fleet operational again and quickly. If you have the parts and facilities to assemble Tie's from the materials reserves that would help as well."

"I'll have my people get right on it Admiral Burgan. Please let me know if you need any of my Advanced Starfighter squadrons reassigned to your command ship."

"That shouldn't be necessary for the moment but thank you. Burgan out."

+ + +

Shaedo Shai stood before one of the living crystals that made up a viewport of the great Worldship Domain Shai. As he stood gazing out into space at the nearness of the stars his subordinate Deign Lian entered the chamber.  
"You requested my presence Supreme Commander?"

Shai did not turn to face the other Yuuzhan Vong, instead keeping his back to him.

"I do not request anything from those under me. I _demand_ that my orders be obeyed. Learn the difference quickly enough and you may yet live to see this system in the hands of our people."

Deign Lian gritted his teeth and bowed, seeming to accept his superior officer's wisdom. Shaedo Shai sighed. The insolent and idiotic Lian was a problem which he might never be rid of.

"Our Enemy is a powerful one." began Shai, "They have dealt us a strong blow this day, one not easily recovered from."

"Supreme Commander... you do not admit defeat do you?"

Shai spun in place eyes blazing with hatred. "I. AM. YUUZHAN VONG!" Faster than Lian could believe, Shai lunged forward with one hand and grabbed his subordinate by the neck. Lifting him off the ground Shaedo Shai slammed the slightly smaller Warrior against the nearest wall.  
"The Warmaster himself would take my life before I could suffer what he considers a defeat! And were I so incompetent as you seem to think I am, I would take my own life to save my Domain the shame and Dishonour."

He released Lian and let the other warrior drop to the floor gasping for breath.  
"Now, what is the state of the Worldship?"

"It is most grievously wounded great one." Lian managed to cough out.

"I could tell as much from sitting in the cognition throne or from the lurch under my feet when we transitioned to darkspace. I want details! What have the Shapers to say?"

At length Lian stood and faced his master before speaking.  
"The Worldship is dying they say."

"You tell me this as though it were some revelation. I have known the Worldship was dying for _years_ now! How long until its life fails is what I must know."

"Weeks, or perhaps months now. They do not know."

"Then we must secure this system and disembark the Worldship's population."  
"I agree, as rapidly as possible."  
Shai ignored the disrespectful manner of his underlings reply.

"We must send additional troops to the surface of the habitable planet. If the Slayer does smile upon us then a great many of the infidels troops may yet lie dead from the weapon they fired into the atmosphere. Precautions must be taken to prevent losing our entire ground force to such a weapon strike."  
"I shall have the landing sites disbursed over a wider area."

"Good. Our enemies draw support from outside the system while we do not. Begin seeding the system with Dovin Basal Mines immediately. Close off the routes via which they leave or enter the system and they will wither under our assaults."

"It will be done Supreme one." Deign Lian slapped his fists to either shoulder then turned to leave.  
"Hold." Called Shai. "Summon the Master Shaper to my chambers."

"B-but he is busy with overseeing the Worldship's survival!"  
Lian immediately regretted his remark and seemed to shrink under the glare Shai gave in response.  
"I-it will be done as you commanded great one." the underling responded at length.

"Once you have completed your tasks you will spend one full planetary cycle in the Embrace of Pain."

Lian bowed deeply. "I live to obey."

"Yes, you do. Now take yourself from my sight."

104 


	105. Chapter 105

"Our scout craft have located the enemy Battle station Admiral." reported Superior's sensor officer.

Burgan immediately stood from his chair at the words and stepped over to see the holo display.

"Where."  
The officer typed a few more keys and then pointed with a stylus to a concentration of small orbital bodies. "They've moved into an orbit on the opposite side of the system's star from us."  
"Force composition?"  
"Difficult to say sir. Many of the smaller ships appear to have moved in closer to the station, they may even be docked."

"Likely healing, growing, or otherwise fixing their living warships. Put that station under constant surveillance with Probes, ships, anything that's available. We're going to need mass readings, movement patterns, everything. It's all to be recorded."

"Sir our ships on the other side of the planet are reporting enemy activity."  
"What sort?"  
"Enemy Corvette analogues. They appear to be landing more troops."  
"Commander, detail a group of Carrack Cruisers large enough to deal with them."

"Aye sir, but the majority of our Carrack Cruisers are still undergoing repairs." Tolas glanced over his console and brought up sensor readings on the enemy force. "I don't believe we have enough light cruisers ready for action that could engage this many corvettes."

"Never mind then, just send some fast ships to put a blockade in place once they're in the atmosphere. We'll need to know where they've landed their troops."

"Yes sir."

"Sir multiple long range contacts. We have artificial gravity wells forming along all major hyperspace lanes in or out of the system."

"What? Put it up on the main holo viewer." An overview of the system materialised showing gravity wells of planets, moons even some larger asteroids. Yellow lines showed hyperspace lanes leading from other systems and red spheres began to pop up, blocking the paths of many of them.  
"We still have the two lanes here and here." Burgan mused, pointing to one side of the system. "But they lead deeper into the Rim... They're trying to cut us off from support. Hoping that they'll weather a siege better than us. Coms, transmit this data back to our hypercom support ships."

"At once sir!"

"Commander what are our four least damaged Star Destroyers?"

"Those would be the Contrition, Javelin, Monitor and Terminus."

"Get me Captain Rhamsec."

"He's already standing by sir."

Burgan sat and turned on the small holo projector built into the arm of the command chair. The bald and goateed face of Captain Arnul Rhamsec looked back at him.  
"Awaiting your orders Admiral."

Burgan grinned slightly. He and the Captain had served together as junior officers aboard the Avenger shortly after Endor.  
"You've been paying attention to the events in system?"  
"Closely."  
"Good. I want you to take your ship, Contrition and a handful of support ships. Your choice of which ones. Find a poorly defended enemy force and hit them. I don't care where in the system they are I just want Vong dead with as few casualties as possible."

"I don't intend to disappoint Admiral."  
"I expect results within Four hours, Burgan out."

Commander Tolas stepped up next to the Admiral. "Sir, any orders for the other two Star Destroyers?"  
"Yes, they're coming with us. I want Superior along with Javelin and Monitor over the Vong landing sites as soon as possible. Have gunnery prepare for Orbital Bombardment."

The Eight kilometer long bulk of Burgan's Super Star Destroyer began her ponderous turn, bringing her nose about before her banks of sublight drives flared to life. Although Superior had taken some heavy hits in the battle, most of her primary system remained undamaged. Heavy Turbolasers powered up and went through their checks, testing to see that they could still turn and depress far enough to hit their targets. The pair of Star Destroyers moved up, taking escort position on either side of the command ship. Their white hulls were marred by black scoring in places but nearly all of the weapons were intact.

"Orbital trajectory set. We will be in position for bombardment in 20 minutes."

The Admiral looked to the com officer. "Com patch me through to Despot."  
"Channel open."

"Tycho I want you to hold your position and help protect the ships undergoing repairs."

"What about that Vong Worldship sir?"

"If they stick their heads out fire away, but no more air bursts. Just one was enough to leave both sides in dire straits. Hold down the fort, this shouldn't take long."

Superior crossed the planet's terminator over the northern hemisphere. The low speed transfer orbit was intended to let the larger Imperial ships maneuver for better bombardment positions while giving them extra room for orbital engagement.

Commander Tolas spoke up during a lull in bridge activities. "Sir, I thought you should be aware of some maintenance concerns. We will be performing a restart on our main shields in a few minutes."  
"We're about to conduct an Orbital Bombardment in less than twenty minutes Commander."  
"Yes sir I'm aware. Mains will be down for perhaps five minutes while we swap out damaged equipment. We have secondary shields standing by."

"I want those secondary's up _before_ you drop the mains."  
"Aye sir."

"Some days I hate this job." Burgan muttered before calling up holo images from the latest tactical updates. With at least partial restoration of the Holonet in progress the Imperial Starfleet would soon establish a clear picture of the Alien invasion. Once that happened it would merely be a question of the logistics of fighting this war.

Appearing farther down the lines closer to the Tion Hegemony, Lord Vader's Super Star Destroyer Executor was enroute to the Yavin system. Accompanying her or taking parallel routes were most of the famed Death Squadron. Every ship in that fleet had been made legendary in the chaotic years of the Rebellion. Most high ranking officers in the Imperial fleet had served at least a year aboard one of the ships, leading the fight against any who stood against the Empire.

Why they were headed for the Yavin system would have been guess work for most ship captains. Rumours of the Temples and artifacts being studied on that world had been circulating among the military for years. Supposedly they were important enough for the Emperor to declare it an important historic site. Ironic really since Tarkin had fully intended to destroy that world with his Death Star. Now it was said that a pair of Inquisitors were present there at any given time. Even with his vaunted new position as a Grand Admiral, Burgan had been offered little more information than that. Still he had the distinct impression that he should feel sorry for anyone foolish enough to enter that system uninvited.

Suddenly something the sensor officer said caught his attention and he glanced over.

"Confirmed. Helm be aware that we have semi-active debris drifting close to our projected flight path."  
"Sensors let me see that." Requested the Admiral.

The lieutenant punched a pair of keys sending the data over.  
"Their trajectory should carry them clear of our course sir."

"Increase power to particle shields to compensate for any stray collisions."

They watched the sensor displays as the smaller pieces of debris, probably from a destroyed Frigate analogue, continued to drift from the battle site.  
"Debris impact with secondary deflectors. No damage."  
"Commander what's the status of the enemy troop land-"  
"_Deceleration detected! _ Multiple contacts among the debris!"

105 


	106. Chapter 106

* * *

Superior's secondary bridge shook as something detonated on the outer hull.

"They're matching velocity; the particle deflectors are letting them through the shields."  
"Enemy Carrier Analogue hiding in the debris field!"

Multiple explosions rocked the ship as detonations walked along the outer hull.  
"Roll the ship to protect the main bay!" Shouted Burgan. "Return fire, ALL LAUNCHERS, ALL GUNS!"

A larger impact shook the secondary bridge, throwing officers into their restraints. It was a sign that the concussion dampening and inertial compensators might be near failure from being overworked in the battle.  
"Where are my shields Commander?!"  
"Main shields will be up in thirty seconds. Secondary shields still at Forty percent on our ventral."  
"We have debris blocking our shots on the carrier. Despot has a clear fire lane."

"Coms!" Burgan pointed at the nearby officer.  
"On it sir."

Superior's Concussion missile batteries opened fire, their missiles streaking around the ship's hull and exploding in the path of incoming Shards. A mix of TIE craft making up part of Superior's CAP sped in from the aft end of the ship, laser cannons blazing. With the Tie's now joining the fight, the Shards broke off to engage the Imperial starfighters.

"Main shields are up." reported Tolas "It looks like the Ties have intercepted the remainder of the Shards."  
"Admiral they were throwing manned fighters at us." said the sensor officer, barely able to believe it.  
"Well they're not anymore. Weapons target the Carrier with Concussion missiles."

The sensor officer studied his screens carefully. "Two additional squadrons of Shards are inbound... Javelin and Monitor are launching Interceptors."

"Missiles away. Impact with target in Twenty five seconds."

The ship launched concussion missiles fired off on a course taking them around the worst of the debris. At their approach a trio of large voids formed a few hundred meters ahead of the carrier, directly in the path of the missile volley. Before they could be pulled into the singularities Superiors sensors triggered the missiles proximity detonators. Two dozen explosions lit up space and were dragged down into the carrier's defensive voids. The singularities dwindled in size as they gulped down more of the explosive force and energy. 

* * *

Admiral Reese stood looking over into one of Despot's bridge pits.  
"Weapons fire once you have good solutions."

Energy levels rose as the Turbolasers of the Sovereign class ship charged.  
"Turbolasers at maximum power... Firing!"  
The deck plating gave the slightest vibration as 500 guns fired in unison. 

* * *

A second volley of missiles exploded, turning large sections of the Carrier's corral hull black. Chunks of the spines where shard fighters would dock began to crumble and flake away. A bare moment before Despot's Turbolaser barrage reached its target, one of the voids swung into the path of the green coherent beams.

It was a case of too little too late.

Between twenty and thirty Turbolaser shots were either pulled into the void or bent around it. The more than four hundred remaining beams struck true, pulverizing the Fourteen hundred meter long carrier analogue. Previously contained plasma boiled out from the broken ship hurling wreckage in every direction.

"Target destroyed."

Burgan exhaled a sigh of relief. "Continue with plans for surface bombardment." 

* * *

After what seemed like an eternity, Superior and her escort began their bombardment of the enemy landing zones. A continuous rain of green beams struck the planet's surface. Vong ships caught on the ground were unable to deploy voids powerful enough or numerous enough to protect from the bombardment. Even near misses were deadly as Imperial lasers superheated the air or caused foliage and exposed rock to explode. A wall of concentrated laser fire walked across larger groups of landed enemy ships. Forests burst into flames, lakes boiled and rock began to run like water in places. Clouds of ash and smoke filled the air, blanketing the area and obscuring the surface.  
"Cease fire."

The Grand Admiral watched the images of the surface for a few seconds. A great many Imperial worlds, or former ones anyways, were going to end up like this before the end of this war. If he was going to prove that he really was worthy of the new title he'd been given, he needed to find a way to keep this from happening more often.  
"Target?"

"Destruction of seventy eight percent of ships recorded entering the atmosphere have been accounted for."  
Burgan turned in response. "What about the remainder?"

"We haven't been able to locate them sir. The life sensors are having trouble picking up Vong life signs or differentiating them from humans."  
"Find them, and inform our troops groundside. They need to know what they're up against."

106


	107. Chapter 107

-1

Ganner Rhysode stood looking out over a lake as smooth as glass. Without instruments or the Force its depths could only be guessed at, but its dark murkiness seemed to hold a sinister nature. The great orange gas giant of Yavin hung in the sky providing more illumination now at sunset than the systems star. Still, barely any of the light which should have reflected off of the water did so. Only fitting when one considered the obsidian temple situated at the center of the artificial lake. Thousands of years old like all of the temples and constructions on this world, it was devoted to one purpose: focusing the dark energies of the Force.

"Well not quite one purpose." Ganner said to himself.  
This was the famed temple of Exar kun, where the spirit of the long dead Sith Lord was said to reside. Ten years ago or more one of the Dark Jedi of Palpatine's order and his powerful apprentice were said to have made contact with the dead spirit. What followed had brought about the destruction of potentially the most powerful Superweapon ever built: The Sun Crusher.

Somehow the dark apprentice Kyp Durron had made contact with Exar Kun. With the dead Lord's experience and the apprentice's sheer power the two had struck out to find a weapon powerful enough to bring the Galaxy under their control. Darth Vader and the boy's master, Kam Solusar, scoured half the galaxy in their search. The Emperor himself had even repelled an attack on Byss by the stolen Sun Crusher using a Force Storm.

In the end Durron escaped into hiding, his master was slain, and Kun's spirit was pulled back to Yavin 4. The research station in the Maw was heavily damaged and the Sun Crusher lost to one of the numerous black holes in the area. Since then all had been forbidden from entering the temple of Exar Kun without the Emperor's explicit permission.

Ganner's comlink chirped at his belt and he picked it up. "This is Rhysode."  
"Ganner are you done your holo surveys of the remaining Temples?"  
"All but one..."  
"You can feel the deaths cant you?" asked his master, Jaalib Brandl. "The fighting is getting closer, we need to begin evacuation procedures. Lord Vader will be arriving with Death Squadron in Fifteen hours. We need to be ready when he get's here."

There was a few seconds hesitation before his master asked. "Ganner do you copy?"

"What if we didn't need to evacuate?" asked the young man.

"We do. In the sending I received from my father he said the invaders can't be felt in the Force." At length he asked in a wary tone. "...Where are you Ganner?"

"I'm looking at the lake Temple."

"Don't do it." The tone of Brandl's voice changed. An edge of anger or perhaps fear crept into it. "Turn around and head back to the main temple right now. Don't make me come out there and kill you."

Ganner took a step out into the lake, putting his foot down on one of the dark stones that sat submerged just below the surface.

"_Ganner!_" Shouted his former master over the communicator.  
"Respond dammit!"

"I'm one of the best telekinetics on the planet Jaalib. Better than you or even your father. With the dead Lord's help I'll be able to knock starships out of orbit."

"If you're so powerful Ganner why haven't you just killed me and taken your own apprentice?" Jaalib's seething hatred could be easily heard over the com.

"I wasn't ready yet, you still had _some_ things left to teach me. In another year I might have been able to match you. A year after that would have given me enough experience to be absolutely sure."  
"Vader will kill you when he arrives, you know that don't you? And I will be right there to watch you die."

Not someone to allow being one-upped Ganner snapped back. "I would have thought you'd have me locked in a Force cage like that woman of yours."

The channel cut off the Ganner could feel the surge of anger through the force connection with his former master. Shaking his head he put away the comlink.

"One less distraction for the moment. Not that it matters."

Looking down, Rhysode went back to picking his way across the lake using the stepping stones.

A pair of Yuuzhan Vong Frigate Analogues escorted a transport as it launched a Dovin Basal Mine into space. Perhaps 'launched' wasn't quite the right word, Captain Rhamsec thought, but it certainly was close enough.  
"Grav well active." Spoke the sensors officer. The young man's voice was easily heard in the unusual silence that had formed Terminus' Bridge. Every one of the officers present had been anxiously awaiting those words.  
"Activate Hyperdrive." Arnul calmly commanded.

For the past hour and a half his Strike group had been closely observing Yuuzhan Vong Mine laying operations. It was truly frightening in its efficiency. Over a course of minutes the transport would disgorge its Gravity mine and then move on. The Mines went active shortly after launch, projecting a gravity well at least as large as that of the Immobilizer Interdictor. The sites where the mines were currently being laid were close enough that the Vong weren't even bothering with Microjumps between locations. Plotting their predicted course was something a child could have done.

The jump timer scrolled down to zero and the strike force was pulled out of hyperspace on the edge of the Mine's gravity well. The Minelayer group was well within firing range once the sensors recovered from the hyperspace hop. Turbolasers sitting charged and ready had already been given the order to fire immediately upon reversion.

Full broadsides from each Star Destroyer struck the Frigate analogues. The unprepared void defenses stopped only a fraction of the first laser volley. By the end of the second attack both Vong escorts had become rapidly expanding clouds of gas. A pair of Carrack Cruisers had harassed the transport until the Destroyers shifted their fire. Five Shard fighters had somehow launch before their motherships were destroyed and were met with a hail of laser cannon and quad laser fire from two Lancer Frigates alongside the Star Destroyers. The alien fighters charged headlong towards the anti-starfighter Frigates, apparently having lost hope in escape and now attempting a suicide run. The Frigate captains and crews were veterans however and both ships concentrated fire on single targets, systematically eliminating the force.

"All enemy ships destroyed." Reported the First officer.

Arnul leaned forward in his command chair. "Target the Mine, I want it dead before we move out."  
"Aye sir."

The Captain looked over to the communications officer. "Norvul, Signal the Flagship with our status and request permission to begin strikes on the remaining mine laying operations."

107

[AUTHORS NOTE: The most commonly asked question so far has consistently been; "When are we going to see more Sith?!" Hope this answers your question. ;) ]


	108. Chapter 108

* * *

Admiral Dorja's V-38 and escort reverted from hyperspace in high orbit over Bonadan.  
"Orders Admiral?"

"Send a tight beam transmission to Colonel Fel. He's to signal Ardent to prepare for our landing in the forward bay. Also can you keep us invisible until we set down in the bay?"  
"Yes sir, but the bay personnel will be able to tell that something's entered."  
"That's quite alright. Please take us in. We just don't need everyone in the system knowing we have a cloaked ship."

The two Chiss Clawcraft lead the way past the increasing number of ships in orbit and up towards Ardent's landing bays. Fel and Rannek expertly guided their fighters into place in the forward bay leaving enough room for the V-38 to set down in between them. To the Stormtroopers standing guard all they could see was a black angular shaped object that seemed to soak up all light that fell upon it. As the landing gear extended the cloak faded and the vehicle ever so slowly became visible again.

"Remarkable vehicle." commented the Admiral. "Commander" he said over his shoulder to Taulen. "I want your best, most trust worthy men guarding this ship at all times. Break them off into a separate unit if you have to. Pilots you're going to be kept off of the regular duty roster for the time being."

After securing their flight gear the aged Admiral climbed down the short extendable ladder of the craft and set foot on the deck of his ship. He took a deep breath of the recycled air and looked around. "Just a short jaunt away from home." He raised his voice so that the two other pilots nearby could hear him. "Colonel Fel, Captain Rannek, you're obviously both sworn to secrecy about all of this."  
"Absolutely sir." Replied Fel, while the Captain answered only by nodding sharply before the two of them saluted.

"I trust the two of you can work out a new flight roster. Try not to lose your fighters in their first engagement." Dorja turned and headed for one of the bay entrances at a stiff walk. Without turning he shouted: "See you at the next staff meeting Commander Taulen."  
"Admiral."

Jag looked over at Rannek. "I sure hope you brought simulator data on these fighters." 

* * *

The doors to the bridge of Ardent hissed open and Dorja marched through.  
"Admiral on deck!" Bellowed a junior officer at one of the aft bridge stations. Three or four officers and crew not busy at the moment snapped to attention while the remainder continued their work.

"As you were." directed to the officers at attention, returning the salute.  
"Commander." He nodded to Wintle as the man approached datapad in hand.  
"Welcome back sir. We were getting a bit worried when only a pair of fighters came back."

"I'll explain everything after your next promotion Commander."  
"Understood sir. I have some updates if you have the time. Things here have been progressing slowly but steadily since you left. Twelve hours ago we were informed that all Imperial ships, assets and personnel capable of relocation were to head here with all speed. The CSA government issued a statement just shortly ago that all Imperial citizens should evacuate for their own safety and are providing additional transportation for people headed here. They won't be providing us with any extra ships however.  
As for all Imperial ships arriving in the Bonadan system, they're being transferred to your command effective immediately."

"Now those are what I call results Commander. You just need to know who to talk to and what not to say."

"If I'm allowed to ask sir, who did you see?"  
"I spoke briefly with an Inquisitor ...more than that I really shouldn't say. Now, let's get down to business, how many new ships do we have?"

"We have forty six ships in system so far with another hundred expected by this time tomorrow."

Dorja picked up a pad that the commander handed to him and began paging down the list. "Freighters, transports of every kind, luxury liners... did you look through all of these? There's even a Strike Cruiser using non-combat IFF tags. This could be even more hectic than Dal-Porath."

"It get's worse." Grimaced Wintle before paging to a series of sensor reports dated four hours earlier.  
"The CSA have been sending us long range telemetry from the edges of the sector. Artificial gravity well signatures along the Hydian Way have increased in number by roughly two hundred percent. Some are even starting to pop up near the edges of the Corporate Sector itself."

"But there's no reports of them actually entering the Corporate Sector?"  
"Not yet."

The Admiral exhaled. "That could change soon." He turned and looked out the nearest viewport.

"We can't afford to leave any of our ships behind, even for the defense of the Sector." He paused then turned back to the Commander. "We still have some garrison bases yes?"

"The other two Imperators in our group do."

"This system is a strategic point in the sector, without it the regional defenses would crumble. Contact the Planetary Governor, see if we can offer them any equipment for use in planetary defense. The Garrison bases, AT-ST's, blasters, even disaster relief containers. Tell them we can spare personnel to help with deployment while we remain in the system. We won't be leaving any troops or personnel behind."

"I'll take care of it right away sir."

"Good. I'll begin working on organising the fleet into something resembling a formation. This may be_ one _of the most interesting convoy runs I've ever attempted."

108


	109. Chapter 109

-1

Crew Chief Rell Thek crawled through one of the many service conduits that accessed parts of Ardent's superstructure. This one in particular ran parallel to a large trunk line containing data-feeds and other hardlines. The bulk of all data transmissions from the bridge to the rest of the ship passed along these lines. Today though that data was being routed through the secondary feeds.

"Are you there yet?" called one of the other workers several meters behind him. The man was unreeling a thick power cable whose end the chief was pulling along with him.

"No. I need another three meters." Chief Thek braced himself and hauled on the cord before crawling ahead further.

"How about now?" asked the other man again.  
"Arse of a Hutt." cursed the chief under his breath.

"What'd ya' say? I couldn't hear you."

As he tried to keep moving forward Rell realised some part of his gear was stuck. "Oh for crying out loud." he muttered then spoke up loud enough for his friend to hear. "It'll have to do! I'm hung up on something!"  
After connecting two halves of a bulky scanning device together Rell plugged the assembled unit into the end of the power cord.

"You know, they have droids that are built to do this sort of thing."

The Chief ignored the comment and pressed the scanner up against one of bundles making up this trunk line. "They said to check them manually and that's what we're going to do!"  
A buzz ran through his body as the scanner swept the area.

"Hey boss let me know if you see blue."  
"What's that supposed to mean?" He shouted back, not taking his eyes off the job at hand.  
"Well you know... it reflects cherenkov radiation if it strikes Baradium or Nergon-14?"

For a few seconds neither of the men said anything.

Eventually Rell looked back over his shoulder. "If you are NOT lying I should have enough time to kill you before I die of radiation poisoning."  
"W-what, you found something?" a noticeable jitter having entered the other man's voice.

"It's not an explosive. Go get the Lieutenant."

Dorja eyed the small boxy device, turning it over in his hands a few times before tossing it onto the briefing room table. He glanced around at the others in attendance. Several senior officers, a Junior Lieutenant and one crew Chief were present.  
"How long?" he asked at length.

"Impossible to say for certain," answered Wintle, "but it's a good bet it was when the main computer was offline."

Taulin spoke up. "We have security records of every time that access panel has been opened since the ship was launched. Multiple crew members were supposed to have been on duty at each time that trunk line was opened. It would take us weeks for us to sort through all of the crew reports though, we're not set up for large scale interrogation. It's easier to just assume that that's when it happened."

"Sir if I may?" asked the Junior officer  
Dorja rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Yes Lieutenant."

"Myself and the work crews under my command were EVA to patch the outer hull when we were docked at Gravlex Med. There is no way it was any one from that group."

The Stormtrooper commander plugged his datapad into the table's uplink. "That still leaves us with more than 300 suspects. Your group was nearly at the bottom of our suspect list to begin with Lieutenant, not much to worry about"

"No sir, that was the reason given when Imperial Intelligence specifically asked our unit to begin systems checks on vital locations."

Dorja raised his hands and his gaze flashed around the room. "When did we have Imperial Intelligence onboard?!"

Wintle didn't even bother with the datapad. "Only when we were transferring our former Second Officer into their custody sir."

All eyes turned to the junior officer and the crew Chief. "It was while we were undergoing refit and result alongside Leviathan 427 on the Hydian Way."

"And you didn't inform a superior officer?" asked one of the staff officers.

"We were told to work within your orders sir" Chief Thek replied, directing his comment to the Admiral. "To check the ship for any remaining sabotage. We did simulated tests on the data transfer feeds first, sending false data through the mains to see if it triggered Rebel programming. Once the Intel people were sure the ship had passed their tests they left manual equipment checks for us to complete. We were ordered to report our results to you only if we found something or it the ship checked out clean."

"How much of the ship have you covered?" Dorja asked looking at both men.

Rell quickly glanced to the Lieutenant to be sure he wasn't going to respond before continuing. "Roughly forty percent. Reactors, drives, fuel cells, all of those were first. Intel said they checked the main computer for viral infiltrators. We've been checking things of secondary importance the past few days when we found this." He gestured to the device.

Wintle reached to the center of the table and picked up the device. "If this thing intercepted coms going to and from the bridge it might explain how Lt. Commander Kirrek was able to authorize moving the prisoner when he did."

Dorja looked back across the table. "Did intel think he was working alone?"

"They never told us." said the Lieutenant.

"I wish someone had told _me_ that intel had a hand in all of this a few weeks ago but it's too late for that now. Chief, continue your checks of the ship just as planned. Lieutenant, start searching for more people to recruit into your work crews. Assume that our recorded reports of where people were supposed to be weeks ago have been tampered with since then."

"How should I find out where people have been then sir?"  
"Interview them or people working with them if you have to, I don't care. Give me results people. Dismissed."

109


	110. Chapter 110

-1The aft doors to Ardent's bridge opened and the voices of the Admiral and First officer preceded their entrance.  
"Light repeating blasters are too large for fighting aboard ship Commander. Why do you think E-11's have always been so popular?"

"Market share in the Imperial navy?"

The Admiral pointed a finder at the younger man. "I am not getting dragged into that debate again. Just give the Espos most of our light repeaters."

"Very well sir."

As the pair reached the command walkway the sensor officer stood up at the edge of the bridge pit holding a datapad.  
"Latest ship arrivals sirs."  
The Admiral nodded and the officer transmitted the data to his pad.  
"A Loronar Field Secured Container Vessel?" Dorja handed the pad to Wintle who paged through the data.

"She's carrying enough raw materials to build a dozen Star Destroyers."  
"Transports larger than most Super Star Destroyers tend to be able to do that. I'm more concerned about the lack of mobility with a ship like that has."

Wintle's eyebrow's shot up. "We now have a Super luxury liner, Viscount class."  
"They've only built four of those, which one?"  
"Palpatine's Virtue." 

Dorja shook his head. "At my age I don't need to look for new ways to die they just seem to keep finding me. You know what happened the last time a ship bearing the Emperor's name was lost?"  
"...No sir."  
"That's because it's never been allowed to happen." His eyes hardened and a determined scowl crossed his face. "And it's not going to happen on my watch. Find out what she's armed with and how many Imperial troops are part of her onboard garrison."

+++

Midway between the Cron Drift and the Yavin System the Super Star Destyroyer Executor dropped out of Hyperspace. Admiral Venka kept a close watch as they realigned for her next hyperspace jump. While the ship went through alignment and checks for her next jump the communications officer tried to connect to the holonet, with only limited success.  
"Holonet relays are still out in this area. We have partial connection with the Escort Carrier Venix near the Perlemian Trade Route."  
"Are we likely to have access to the holonet when we arrive at Yavin?"

"Yes sir. Victory Destroyer Black Gauntlet is reporting that they have a strong signal once again. Unfortunately they lack relay gear necessary for our uplink."

"But we will have an uplink when we arrive, Excellent. Time to arrival in the Yavin system?"

"Fourteen hours forty three minutes sir…" Reported the helmsman. "Engaging hyperdrives."

The Fain vibration of hyperspace travel was the only sound present in Darth Vader's meditation chamber. Even the sound of the Sith Lord's infamous respirator was absent. Sitting in the chamber unmasked, the man once known as Anakin Skywalker breathed in pure oxygen from the sterile environment. He had been wielding the force for decades now, more than half a century infact, but he could still not complete it's ultimate mastery.

Opening his meditation pod Vader prepared to deactivate the sterility field and make another of his many attempts to heal his body. His concentration focused after hours of meditation he opened himself to the Dark side of the force. The directed power of a life time's emotions and strength poured through him, seeming to fill his body with swirling energy. He twisted the flow of energy to focus on the worst of his countless injuries.

Charred lung tissue injured long ago began to regenerate. Partially collapsed airways opened once again. Blood surged through previously damaged capillaries, finally able to carry as much oxygen as the human body was intended for.  
Deactivating the field Vader took his first unfiltered breath in weeks. The faint touch of blowing air flowed over his skin. The joy of success threatened to bubble up and break his concentration as it had in times past. Knowing he would not be able to maintain this Dark side state for long, he used that outrage to continue fuelling his anger.

For long minutes he struggled with this own emotions, his own will, his connection to the Force. Just like every time before this was the most difficult struggle of his life. He'd killed groups of Jedi more easily than this. Glancing at a chronometer he realised twenty minutes had passed. His concentration and anger nearly failed him then but he was determined to fight longer. Increasing his efforts Vader was soon literally shaking with rage. Metal panels and consoles outside of the pod ripped free and crumpled under his anger. Despite all of this his control began to slip away, slowly at first but then fast enough that his very life felt as though it were slipping away.

Healed tissue withered back to it's previous state. Airways began to constrict again and his lungs turned black once more. Defeated Vader reactivated the field of his pod. Sitting he inhaled the pure oxygen and waited to catch his breath. A thought flickered through his mind; one day he might not bother reactivating the field regardless of the consequences.

Waiting for his strength to recover and not wanting to brood on his current depressing thoughts he closed the Meditation Pod. The flick of a switch turned on signal jamming that would deal with any listening devices in the surrounding room. Opening a hidden compartment he pulled out a small datachip and plugged it into one of the pod's consoles.  
Before long letters flashed 'Decryption Complete' in blue letters.  
The holo message contained within the chip began playing immediately.

The image of a man with sand coloured hair and a somewhat worn face appeared before him.

"Father, I know we haven't spoken in some time but I need you to know that I have not given up. Someday you or I will find some way to heal you. But even if that day never comes I will still help you in opposing the Emperor should you ask me. You have to accept that I may never embrace the Dark Side. With or without it I could still be of great help to you."

The image of Vader's only son seemed to hesitate before pushing on.

"I had a vision recently, I think it was a glimpse of the future. ...or a possible future. A Jedi Master told me once that the future is constantly in motion. In my vision we stood against the Emperor, not just us but others too. There were Sith and Jedi on our side, light and dark alike. Then there were those who stood _with_ Palpatine. Their faces were masked or covered by their cloaks so I couldn't see who they were but some of them were conflicted.  
"The most Important thing from the vision though was that you were already healed of your injuries. And the strangest thing was... I did not feel the presence of the Dark Side around you."

He sighed.  
"I'm not trying to fool you Father. Just please, if there is a way you know of that could still heal you just try."

110


	111. Chapter 111

* * *

Vader looked through a series of notes and files that had been attached to the holo message his son had sent him. They included a short journal documenting discoveries made researching the wealth of data archives the Sith Lord had accumulated over his lifetime. One file contained annotated notes that he recognised. Years ago he had studied a collection of holocrons in the hopes of finding any ancient healing techniques used either by the Sith or even the Jedi. He had ultimately discarded the research as useless; the answer HAD to lie within the Sith teachings that Palpatine himself had learned from.

The Emperor's now paranoid nature made it difficult to determine if all of the Sith research material had ever been available to him. Several holocrons were known to be hidden deep within the fortress world of Byss. Few of the Sith or Dark Jedi were permitted to set foot on that planet now, host as it was to Palpatine's most sinister experiments.

With the press of a button Vader opened the meditation pod once again and summoned a nearby medical droid. "Retrieve Container PHMRXJ-31287 from high security storage. It is to be delivered to my chamber immediately."

The Emdee returned shortly carrying a metal box thirty centimetres wide and ten high. After dismissing the droid he reached into the box with the Force and disarmed a trap he'd set for anyone foolish enough to open it. Opening the metal casing Vader removed the lightsaber that had been set to activate, placing it nearby. The real item of value inside was a vial or orange liquid. It was an amalgam of biomatter suspension chemicals and healthy cells that had been taken from throughout his body.

The technique he had stumbled upon in a holocron years ago, the same one his son had again found, was susceptible to disruption by dark side energies. Over use of the Dark Side for prolonged periods were known to result in degeneration and damage to the body. The withered husk that Palpatine had once appeared as was a prime example of such decay. Now he wondered weather he would be able to tolerate a fate like that of the Sith Master.

Holding up the vial he stared at it. With proper concentration of the Force on a small enough area the bio-matter could supposedly act as a catalyst for healing. It would be a very small area however, possibly the cellular level, and the resulting healed area would be at a higher risk of damage while using the Dark side.

One thing was certain: the current course of his progress with the Force would not deliver results in a timely manner. There was too much machine now to sustain his body indefinitely as some Sith were rumoured to have come close to accomplishing centuries ago. He would be dead long before gaining enough knowledge to completely heal himself. With the onset of a new war he needed to set plans in motion now. Hopefully with the new conflict's distractions he could make some measurable progress without Palpatine's notice.

After closing the pod Vader extracted a small droplet from the vial. Calmly and slowly he began concentrating on using the Force without drawing on the Dark side. A task that was not so easily accomplished after so many years of relying on the dark energies. Listening to the regulated pattern of his breathing he used the rhythm as a focus for concentration. Closing his eyes Vader reached out and began to levitate the small speck of liquid chemical. With great care and precision he guided it through his mouth and down his throat. Suppressing the coughing reflex was a simple enough affair, it was something he hadn't had need of since before donning the mask and armour. The catalyst dropped ever lower into his chest and toward the base of his right lung. When it at last connected with the damaged flesh a sharp burning pain shot through that part of his chest.

For a brief moment Vader wondered if one of Palpatine's other servants had poisoned the compound. Looking deep within his body though he saw that not to be the case. The liquid was merely dissolving some of the charred remains in that small cluster of lung tissue. By itself this combined mixture could likely be used to clean common lung wounds and burns but without the power of the Force it's true potential remained hidden. Using the techniques described in the holocron Vader focused all of the healing energies he could muster into the tiny collection of collapsed bubbles called Alveoli.

The process was agonizingly slow. He briefly contemplated using a powerful surge of Dark side energy, but dismissed it out of hand. He had waited too long to have his hopes dashed by impatience. With a microscopic hand he reshaped and smoothed out the bubble shaped membranes that allowed oxygen into the bloodstream. Each required it's own attention to rebuild and repair.

The console beeped indicating the time, drawing his attention away from his healing. He had just spent some eight hours or more testing the effects of the liquid concoction. The repaired sections seemed to be holding but he was dismayed at how little he had fixed. Only as much as one one thousandth had been restored to normal. Despite the miniscule amount he had to admit it was still progress, all he needed was time now.

Vader lowered his helmet from the retraction system in the top of the pod. They would be arriving at Yavin soon.

111


	112. Chapter 112

* * *

The doors to Superiors bridge opened with a sound not dissimilar to that of scraping metal. Admiral Burgan had to have noticed but chose not to show any sign of it as he strode through, followed closely by several other officers that had taken the same turbolift. He glanced around taking in the extent of the repair work that had been done. Superior's Captain approached, obviously grateful to be out of a vacuum suit.

"Captain Thegas, everything looks to be in good order."

The man smiled slightly at the compliment but still managed to make it look more like a grimace. "Yes sir, nearly all bridge stations repaired and the viewports replaced with spares from storage."

"What about the topside domes?"  
"Those will take awhile but we do have bridge deflectors back up."  
"Small miracles." The Admiral whispered.

The usual collection of bridge officers filtered back to their posts. Before long the room was filled with the quiet hum of activity. Burgan grabbed the back of his command chair and spun it to face him. He was momentarily taken aback by it's change in appearance. White collision padding normally found in Assault Shuttles had replaced the custom sewn Nerfhide cushions that had once covered it.  
"I'm sorry Admiral, the old coverings from your chair were damaged by the explosive decompression. This is all the repair crews could find in time."

"Don't think anything of it Captain. I never should have spent so many credits on something so frivolous. I probably could have bought a shield generator for a TIE fighter with the same money."  
The admiral froze, struck by sudden inspiration.  
"Grand Moff Zsinj routinely spends extra credits to outfit certain units with above standard equipment doesn't he?"

"I believe so sir, but he's notorious for saving money everywhere else that he can. Where are you going with this?"

"I want you to spread word through the ship, a test of sorts. Any officer or crew that donates to help equip our ship or support vehicles better will receive a tax deduction."

"I'm not entirely certain how the men will respond to that sir, let alone the legality issues. The hanger deck crews should like the idea though. I'll be sure to pass that offer along to as much of the crew as possible."

"Good! Now..." Burgan sat down and began activating his chair's holo displays. "Let's get back to work, we have a war to win. I'm sure Captain Rhamsec is doing everything he can to get permission for more strikes. Let's be ready to assist him if he runs into trouble shall we?" 

* * *

High over Bonadan the Imperial convoy was slowly but steadily taking shape. As each hour of organizing the fleet passed the ships moved into higher and larger orbits to make room.  
Wintle approached the Admiral who was overlooking a holo displays of the fleet formation.  
"We seemed to have a local holonet signal as far out as the Aparo Sector but it's been cut off again."  
"Where exactly?" Dorja asked, not taking his eyes off of his work.

"Towards the edge of the sector, not far off of the Hydian way from Cadomai. A Victory Destroyer from one of the sector fleets was acting as a relay."

"When we move out we'll have to plot a course that avoids the area and as much of the Hydian Way as possible."  
"Understood."  
"I wont risk the civilians but we do need more intel. See if there are any light freighters or scout ships that could be easily equipped for long duration flight."

"Your plan sir?"

"We confiscate some of the ships if we have to and send them deep into the Galactic Rim. Have them follow it from here on into the Unknown Regions. Let's find out if there's a limit to the numbers of enemy troops and ships."

"Should we compensate the captains of the appropriated ships?"  
"If they don't cause us any trouble yes, but see if you can recruit any of them. We cant spare the pilots and crew for each one. The deaths of a few smugglers would be better than losing combat personnel." 

* * *

Garm Bel Iblis sat down in his quarters aboard _Paradise Lost_, pulling out a pair of shot glasses and matching bottle. Though intended to hold some rare or exotic Liquor the bottle was now filled with water. With the fleet on nearly 24 hour alert as they advanced the General couldn't risk getting accidentally over doing it and getting drunk. The new couch he'd sat down on along with the matching table and chairs had been scavenged from the personal estate of a Sector Moff some weeks ago. Tycho Celchu sat down on the opposite side of the table putting down a thick old datapad with a newer holographic projector built into it. The Alderaanian leaned back in the chair after picking up one of the glasses Iblis had filled. "You know some day one of us might actually get the chance to drink what that bottle was really meant for."

"I dont need to be drinking a depressant right now Tycho. We're throwing pilots and fighters at a problem we should be solving with skill. Right now all we're doing is using lives to buy time."

"It's the only choice we have isn't it? If Sovereign makes it into the Elrood Sector we're finished."

Both men sat in the brooding silence taking sips of their water.

"How much longer can we keep this up?"

Tycho closed his eyes. He'd been looking over the same reports so much lately he knew the numbers without looking.  
"At the current rate... we'll have run out of operational starfighters in three and a half weeks. I'm not sure our pilots will last that long."

"We'll need a reserve force for one big attack. Be ready to de-crew Blacken on short notice, I want to use it as a target for their Superlaser."

Tycho leaned forward a serious look on his face. "If you think it's worth it, but really we need every Star Destroyer we have."

"We need something to distract them, it doesn't need to be for long. Talk to Iella, we'll need to know what else the Imps have ready to send this way. Tell our Recon patrols that they have a priority on finding and identifying the Imp Interdictors. While you're taking care of that I'll talk to our unusual friend and see if I can get any more 'equipment' that could be useful."

"The ability to have secure communications has been a major bonus the past couple of weeks. Any idea what they're going to ask for in return?"

"No." Iblis frowned. "They're leaving me guessing on that one but it _is_ starting to worry me. Once the Majestic Program reaches full production I'm hoping we wont need to ask for as much help."

"The engineers think we're still 4 weeks away from completion of the first combat ready ship. We've never field tested anything like it."

"We need those ships Tycho. I want Majestic engaging the Imperial fleet within 28 hours of her launch."

112


	113. Chapter 113

* * *

Darth Vader strode onto Executor's bridge, cape billowing out behind him as he made his way to the head of the command walkway. All within the room were careful not to look away from their duties and none moved to provide the Dark Lord with trivial status reports. He always appeared shortly before there was any need to summon him. Something which the majority of the officers were grateful of. Bare seconds after his arrival the swirling chaos of hyperspace snapped back into pinpoints of light. The gas giant of Yavin grew from something that was barely visible until it filled most of the viewport. Executor and her escort of Star Destroyers decelerated into an orbit that would bring them within range of the fourth moon.

"No alien contact detected in the system at this time." announced the sensor officer.

Admiral Venka approached Vader and halted at a respectful distance. Bowing slightly he said, "My Lord we have a priority signal from the surface for you."

The two men headed for an aft bridge station were a Lieutenant waited. He saluted before playing the message.

"This is Jaalib Brandl, the students and survey teams are ready for evacuation, but we have a situation. One of the students, Ganner Rhysode, has entered the Temple of Exar Kun knew full well the consequences. I require assistance if I am to enter the temple and retrieve him."

Venka paused the message at that point and turned to the Dark Lord. "The rest of the transmission contains data on the amount of cargo to be recovered from the moon's surface."

"Very well. Prepare my shuttle and have a squadron of Tie bombers standing by. While I am on the surface oversee loading of the students and cargo. They are all of vital importance."  
"Of course my Lord."

Without another word Vader turned and headed for the aft turbolifts. Once the door had closed Venka turned to Executor's Captain.  
"Be sure the security teams are properly briefed on how to deal with any run-ins they have with Inquisitor candidates."  
"Sir we've already done it twi-" "Check again. Remind them that these people can kill with a glance. At least with Lord Vader you stand a chance by being good at your job. The others... we're better safe than sorry." 

* * *

Down on Yavin IV's surface Ganner stood atop the Obsidian Temple of Exar Kun. His arms were spread wide as he took in a glimpse of the galaxy the dead spirit gave him. Worlds and star systems were laid bare before him, his for the taking. As wondrous and powerful as it made him feel however he wasn't interested in the galaxy as a whole at the moment. What he wanted right now was in the skies of this planet.  
"There." He spoke aloud more for himself, guiding his senses towards the small speck of a shuttle entering the atmosphere.  
"I told you he would come. The one who cast you from Kyp Durron's body."  
Kun's spectral form frowned but hid any indication of it from the naive would-be Sith. Vader might have pused his last grasps of control from Kyp's body but it had been the boy and his master that had wrested control of the young man's mind back.

"With my help you are now the most powerful force user on this moon. Reach up and crush that tiny shuttle as if it were a clump of sand. Take his place as the Dark Lord of the Sith!"

The young man was about to do just what kun had said, but then he hesitated. Uncertainty and just a touch of fear ran through him. He turned to the spectre. "What about Emperor Palpatine?"

"He is of no consequence." Kun responded flippantly, trying to brush past the issue.  
"But he was able to repel the Sun Crusher from Byss with a devastating Force Storm. It's said the after effects of it are still being felt on that world."

The Ghost began to emanate a feeling of annoyance but outwardly appeared unchanged.

"Lord Vader has plotted Palpatine's demise for decades. He might yet know how to win a battle against him."

"That he has not done so thus far is a poor indicator of his ability or planning."

"He will come here to this temple soon, he has to. Once he is here, in this place of your strongest power, then it will just be a matter of scouring his mind for what we need."

Kun's ghost gave a predatory smile, one intended to give the apprentice the wrong impression. This Ganner Rhysode was foolish beyond measure allowing a Force user as powerful as Vader to approach. Here in this Temple Kun's power might be amplified, but without someone like Ganner or Durron before him to act through he could be greatly endangered. In theory a Sith Lord could be powerful enough to destroy his spirit entirely. Still there were always options; he'd been faced with the prospect of destruction or oblivion before.

113


	114. Chapter 114

Vader's Shuttle set down in a clearing not far from the Lake surrounding Exar Kun's temple. While the ramp lowered Vader turned to the pilot.  
"If the landing zone is threatened take off and await my signal from a safe distance."  
"Yes my Lord."

A short walk through the jungle saw him to the edge of the lake. Brandl he could tell was farther to the south and it was not long before he could make out the younger Sith heading his way.  
With several force assisted jumps to clear obstacles like fallen trees he arrived in bare minutes.

"Lord Vader." He knelt down on one knee before the Sith Lord, sounding only slightly out of breath. "Rhysode is definitely in the Temple and has surely communicated with the spirit by now. If you would allow me, the pathway leading out to the Temple is south of us."

Darth Vader's breathing was the only sound of his response while he turned and looked out over the lake and it's calm water. Eventually he turned back to Brandl. "Accompany me to the Temple if you wish but remain outside and do not interfere."

"Of course my Lord." Jalib stood. "If you would follow me?"

"I shall approach from here." Vader stepped out onto the still waters and began walking towards the temple as though he were striding atop a polished stone floor.

Brandl wondered if his discipline and skill would allow him to duplicate the older Sith's feat. He quickly concluded that he didn't have time to test the technique and sprinted off towards the south to use the stepping stones.

* * *

"Executor to Lord Vader."  
"Yes Admiral."  
"We have multiple sensor contacts headed our way, a fleet perhaps twice our size worth. They could be within weapons range within minutes."

"Engage them at will but do not break orbit. Be prepared to bombard my position on short notice."  
"Understood Lord Vader, Executor out."

Putting away his communicator Darth Vader looked around. The several minutes of walking had brought him within a few strides of the Temple. A mix of Anchient Sith Writings and Coursca Gems decorated the slopes of the multi-tiered pyramidal structure. Stepping towards the 'front' of the temple he found one of the sets of stairs carved into the sloping obsidian face. He calmly climbed the stairs and entered the courtyard like area directly in front of the towering statue of Kun. At it's feet stood Ganner, lightsaber in hand but unlit.

"Lord Vader! Kneel before the power of Exar Kun!" What seemed like an enormous weight pressed down on his shoulders, trying to press him into the ground. With a wave of a hand the Sith Lord countered the pressure and sent the younger man stumbling backwards. Once Ganner had regained his balance Kun's ghost appeared looking over his shoulder.  
"You should have killed him when you had the chance."

"NO." Rhysode growled out. Weather it was directed at Kun or himself Vader could not tell.  
Raising his hands the younger Sith sent out arcs of Force Lightning from his fingertips. The crackling energy filled the courtyard with enough power to easily kill several people. None of them struck their intended target, instead being intercepted by a red lightsaber.

Once the lightshow had ended Vader deactivated his weapon and clipped it to his belt.  
"I am most unimpressed."

Kun's ghost glanced back and forth between the two living men.  
"As you should be. Not only is my new apprentice not as skilled as he believes, but your power is far beyond my expectations. Your lightsaber should have burned out from feedback."

"You should know not to underestimate my power." Replied Vader, standing in one of his most recognisable poses; a closed fist against either hip. "Especially after our last meeting."

"The interference of the fallen Jedi assisting you when last we met prevented me from taking a true measure of your power."

"Excuses do not fit well with someone who once tried to take control of the Galaxy."

"Enough!" shouted Ganner, interrupting the exchange. "How do I defeat the Emperor!?!"

"You do not." Answered Vader, staring straight at the other man. "If you cannot defeat me, weakened by decades of injuries and wounds, then you stand no chance against Palpatine. He has become at least as immortal as your new master."

"Clone bodies." Ganner cursed under his breath.

A sinister grin crept across Exar Kun's spectral features. "But you still seek a way to defeat him do you not?"

The Sith Lord's only answer was the mechanical breathing of his respirator.

Kun's grin widened. "Lord Vader, we need not be enemies... what if I could heal your injuries?"

"WHAT?!" Ganner turned, range evident on his features.

"When you reach an age beyond centuries old finding the most advantageous solution becomes second nature."

"And you'd abandon him for someone else if they were more powerful?!"

"That you even have to ask such a question of a Sith should be a clear sign that you don't understand our ways. Should I really answer a question any child would know the answer to?"

"No..._NO!_" Gathering his power and whatever his connection to Kun still offered him, Ganner threw a force push at Vader strong enough to rip most buildings to shreds. Reacting instantly Vader threw up a protective bubble of Force energy around himself. Rather than just washing over the bubble like wind or water, the push struck like a single solid object.

Even with the protection the Dark Lord found himself launched from the temple and out over the lake. Twisting in flight he righted himself before using levitation to level out his descent. He touched down on the water still moving, his boots leaving a twin wake behind. When at last he came to a stop he paused a moment, his rhythmic breathing hinting at annoyance.

"Lord Vader are you unharmed?" Called out Brandl from a short distance away. The other Sith had been making his way along the stepping stones in the Lake.

"Yes, as is your apprentice... That will not be the case soon."  
Vader walked the short distance to the stones then ceased his levitation.

A flash of green light from above caught the attention of both men. Pulling his communicator from his belt the Dark Lord was not surprised when it beeped for his attention seconds later.

"My Lord the sensor contacts have turned out to be the same sort of Alien ships as in the Intelligence updates. They have entered orbit of Yavin and are moving to intercept us. We're engaging them at maximum Turbolaser range."

"Hold your position Admiral, I should be contacting you shortly."

"What is your command my Lord?" enquired Jaalib, adjusting his lightsaber so that it was more easily accessible.

"I highly doubt that we will need to fight your former apprentice now." Raising a hand out in front of him Vader caused the water to part for a short distance ahead. With the stepping stones now sticking out above the water level he advanced toward the temple once more. Regardless of weather or not the Sith ghost would help him, he would not bow to his temple.

114

[Author's Note: Have any suggestion for the storyline? Let me know, there's still plenty to work with.]


	115. Chapter 115

Jaalib Brandle halted at the base of the stairs leading up into the temple. "I shall remain here for the moment my Lord."

"Very well." Without another word Vader turned and ascended back into the temple. Ganner was still standing in the center of the courtyard but his attention was not focused outward towards the others on the moon as it should have been. Looking more closely it now seemed that the man was grappling with Exar Kun's spirit.

"Do you really think you're powerful boy? I can use my powers indiscriminately here. If I want to I can give you the greatest powers in the galaxy or I can take them away just as quickly."

"They are here." Spoke Vader, loudly enough to draw the attention of the other two."

Kun's form halted it's attacks and laughed. "Are you honestly trying to trick me?"

"No h-he isnt." Ganner gasped. "They're the ones I told you about. The ones that cant be felt through the Force. I didn't really believe it either."

Kun glanced back and forth between from either of them. Sensing no deception he projected his senses upwards into orbit. The stresses and emotions that normally filled the minds of people at the start of a battle were present among those crew of the Imperial fleet in orbit. Those aboard the command ship were much the same, except for what he assumed to be the officers. They did not fear any enemy they might encounter, just the wrath of the Sith Lord they served.

Starfighter pilots sped through the emptiness of space, some of them winking out of existence. Whenever the pilots died he could sense none of the crackling energy of lasers or exploding warheads. Search as he might he couldn't tell where the killing blows came from.

"No... it does not seem possible, but I am left with no other conclusion. Beings with no connection to the Force... If I were alive the very idea might be enough to make me faint of heart. Fortunately such is not the case."

Vader lifted his comlink and turned up it's volume. "Admiral report on the situation."  
A slight crackle filled the channel before the response. "My Lord. The enemy capital ships present seem to match us both in firepower and defensive capability. If our intelligence reports are any indication they may still heavily outmatch our starfighter compliment. All of the groundside personnel have been evacuated except for those in your immediate vicinity. I would like permission to withdraw to a safer distance."

"No." Vader commanded. "Hold your position, I will know when you are in serious danger."  
"Understood my Lord. Executor out."

Kun and Vader traded glances then both turned to Ganner.  
"I believe it's time we found a use for our mutual problem." Breathed Vader.

"I couldn't agree more." Whispered Kun's form.

Still on the ground Rhysode seemed to spasm involuntarily, every muscle in his body locking up. It was all merely a distraction to break the young man's concentration long enough for the elder spirit to gain a small margin of control of his mind. Taking a good second look at the ambitions that drove the man Kun turned to using these in his favour.

"Ganner. Ganner Rhysode. Stop fighting. I am here to help you remember? You came to me asking for the unlimited power of the Force remember? You wanted to become god among men, to not just be feared by respected and admired by the masses. This is your chance. You can become a real true hero Ganner. You can defeat the aliens... The Yuuzhan Vong. You can defeat them, save this world and make everyone else in the galaxy know what you really are."

"Yes. I've-I've got to save this world. Beat the Vong." Responded Ganner in an almost slurred voice, showing signs his judgement was becoming clouded by Kun's control.

Kun was careful to continue on in a calm reassuring voice. "You already knew about the Vong before you came here Ganner, how you cant feel them in the Force? But you had a plan didn't you? A plan to still beat them if you just had some help. I'm here to help you now, how were you going to defeat them?"

"Coursca Gems."  
"Coursca Gems?" Kun's form leaned back and laughed manically, careful not to lose his control of the young man. "From Yavin's Atmosphere! You wanted to obliterate them with a storm of gems! Ha-ha! A death by a thousand cuts I have heard it called before, but why stop with gems Ganner? Reach up. Reach up and pull Yavin's atmosphere into their fleet."

Ganner gasped. "It's too much, I cannot even... there's too much."

"Don't think,_ feel _and look with the Force, at the air currents of that great gas world." Sensing the man's renewed concentration towards the task Kun coaxed him on. "Look deeper. The movements of the winds and how they interact, whipping around that great planet even faster than some would believe."

"The winds. If I can shift them slightly..." Reaching out with Kun's seemingly unlimited power he twisted the path of a large jet stream that circled the planet. The directed currents struck another flow heading in the opposite direction. Rather than cancelling each other out, the two air currents swirled around one another, pushing upward and creating a huge storm. Weather it should be called a Hurricane or tornado Ganner didn't know, what he did know was that the storm's cloud tops were climbing out of the atmosphere. over the next few minutes the dark jedi funnelled more and more winds into the great storm. A wispy tendril of gas and cloud reaching out towards the planet's collection of moons.

* * *

"Admiral, we're detecting an atmospheric disturbance on Yavin."  
"What sort of disturbance?" asked Venka, somewhat vexed. He knew his crew well enough that they wouldn't have bothered to bring up something minor in the middle of a battle.  
"This kind." The officer pointed to a screen with it's display set at maximum so the Admiral could see it from the command walkway.

"Emperor's black bones." Cursed the Admiral. That display couldn't be to scale, could it?

Executor's captain rapidly made his way to that part of the bridge pit. "How long until it reaches us?"

"At current rate of expansion... Five minutes eighteen seconds."

The captain looked up from the pit. "It's still not very dense, our shields should be able to handle it."

"This has to be Lord Vader's doing." Mused Venka. "Helm stand by on engines."

"Sir, what about Lord Vader's orders?"  
"We'll still follow them but stand by, I have the feeling he may be modifying them soon enough."

Without warning the bridge shook in a manner not matching the relatively minor plasma hits against the shields.

"Interdiction field." reported sensors. "A pair of Alien cruisers are projecting a gravity well beyond this side of Yavin and it's moons. We can't withdraw before they overtake us."

The Admiral gave a predatory grin. "By the time they overtake us gentlemen it will be too late for them to escape."

115


	116. Chapter 116

Ganner lay on the top of the temple's floor, arms outstretched toward the Gas Giant filling much of the sky. Glazed over eyes stared upward seeing beyond the realm of the visual. His skin was turning leathery and worn, cracks and wrinkles appearing making him seem twice his age. Even with Exar Kun's power and discipline assisting him the young man could not persist at this forever. Kneeling beside Ganner, Vader grabbed hold of an arm and sent a jolt of Force energy into him.

With the control Kun was now exerting over him the younger man was oblivious to the whole event. He was fully consumed with the great and terrible powers being used to drive the Gas Giant planet. The chaotic patterns of winds all now seemed to be singing in harmony. With the strength of an entire planet driving into the vortex his attention now turned to preventing the spike of gas from dissipating. Looking toward his destination he saw the crowded together life energies of the Imperial fleet.

The tendril of atmosphere now seemed to be approaching impossibly fast. With the gravitational tug of Yavin's fourth moon already starting to play a part, Ganner sent the gasses rushing into a close orbit. Anything that missed its intended target would be spun round the moon for another pass, building up an increasingly dense gas ring.

* * *

"All ships, all stations brace for sustained impact." blared the intership com.  
Admiral Venka and the Executor's Captain grabbed hand holds near the bridge's forward viewports. The Yuuzhan Vong fleet was now close enough to see with the naked eye. Turbolaser salvos filled space like waves of green needles trying to strike down their targets. Blobs of golden plasma were almost haphazardly thrown back at the Imperial fleet in response. Holding station above Executor, the Avenger visibly shuddered as the Destroyer shrugged off hits.

Following Endor a number of Death Squadron's Destroyers that been crippled in the battle had been secretly refit with tougher shields to help protect the flagship. So secret had it been that few of the crew even today knew about the secret compartments holding Mon Cal shield components. The only indication was a higher than normal staff of Imperial Intelligence onboard each converted vessel.

Behind the Vong fleet the leading edge of Yavin's clouds swept in. As it overtook them it became increasingly difficult to make out profiles of the enemy ships.  
"Have you ever seen a Tatooine sandstorm sir?"  
"No Captain, I try to not spend much time groundside outside of the core."

"We shouldn't worry about the initial impact but the friction from particle collisions."

"Impact in 3... 2... 1."

Through the viewports Venka saw the wave of cloud sweep over the bow, along the superstructure and towards the bridge in little more than a second. As the Captain had indicated, there was no discernable impact, but he did notice a _sound_. A faint vibration could be felt running through the deck plating resulting in a noticeable high pitched sound not unlike that caused by newly built engines.

"We're taking particle hits, millions of them. Deflectors are holding."

"Sir, drag is increasing beyond station keeping limits. We'll need to bring the sublight drives up to hold position."

Venka nodded. "Helm, turn us into the wind, use whatever drive power is necessary but make sure we hold position."

"Captain." called an officer urgently from the crew pit.

"Excuse me sir." he said, leaving the Admiral's side. Captain Tynan fast walked to the back of the bridge and made his way to the crew pit where he was needed.

"Admiral we're losing turbolaser accuracy, the sensors are having their targets partially obscured. We're at 95% and falling."

"How long?" "We've already lost predictor locks for starfighters and corvettes. Their frigates are fast enough that we'll lose locks in less than 3 minutes."

The bridge shook from plasma impacts on the shields. Looking over the holographic displays Venka could see that Avenger had been pushed from her holding pattern and was now moving back into position. Ahead of the fleet the Vong were decelerating and drawing closer to one another, overlapping defenses no doubt.

The Admiral's personal comlink went off, it was Lord Vader.  
"Admiral, what is the current distance and bearing of the enemy fleet." he demanded.

"Ten thousand kilometers and closing my Lord, on a bearing of two five mark three one." 

* * *

"It's not enough..." Gasped Ganner. "I can tell where the gasses and particles are connecting but it can't be harming their ships fast enough."

"You WILL find a way. My temples will not be destroyed, not now."

Observing the effects of the dust Ganner spotted a sudden burst of energy near what had to have been a singularity. The Yuuzhan Vong's miniature black holes were not continuous, but popped into existence when and where they were needed. Thanks to Vader's enquiries Ganner knew more or less where to look for them, otherwise spotting the tiny disturbances -even through the Force- would have been far more difficult.

Another burst of energy. "There, it happened again."

"What are you playing at young man?" Asked Kun in a stern voice.  
"Fusion." Ganner replied, though he said it more to himself.

"I thought they were supposed to be using plasma and singularities?"

"They're not using fusion, the singularities are compressing the gas enough for it to undergo fusion where it's densest. Now we need to increase the pressure."

Ganner forced the stream of gasses pouring into orbit of the moon into a tighter band. Despite his efforts much of the atmosphere was still rapidly dissipating in the vacuum of space. With so much available to feed the storm though it would be a long time before running out was an issue.

Feelings of genuine fear were starting to fill the crews of Death Squadron. Unable to maneuver the fleet was rapidly running out of both time and staying power. Turbolasers fired again and a void popped up to swallow them before they struck target. The increasingly dense gas was drawn down into the singularity and compressed on the event horizon. A fraction of a second before the laser strike arrived the void popped back out of existence. The ship's singularity projectors had become too tired to continue their defense. 

* * *

"Artificial gravity well is down."

Captain Tynan leaned over the sensor officer's shoulder bracing himself as another plasma strike rocked the bridge. "The enemy void shielding is losing effectiveness, it looks like our shots are starting to get through."

"We're detecting fusion events in close proximity to the enemy ships!" shouted the sensors officer.

Admiral Venka was nearly thrown from his feet from a more powerful hit near the bridge tower.  
"Increase rate of fire!"

"Aye sir!"

116


	117. Chapter 117

The fear and resignation that had been running through the Imperial fleet in equal parts evaporated. The cornered prey had just become the predator. Tie squadrons threw themselves at the Vong fleet with bloodthirsty abandon, their high rate of fire wreaking havoc on the enemy defenses.

Instead of fleeing like most caught in such a losing situation, the Vong held firm, refusing to back down. A combined Imperial volley ravaged the forward ranks of ships. The fastest of the alien ships at last broke formation and accelerated, not away to safety, but straight towards the smaller Imperial Destroyers.

A trio of Corvette Analogs slammed into Tyrant's bow shields, collapsing the defensive field and allowing two more ships to punch through and strike her hull. The Destroyers' bow ripped apart and explosions chained through her forward sections. Debris from a corvette analogue blasted into the hanger bays and set off the starfighter fuel stores. An orange ball of flame and debris erupted from the main bay. 

* * *

"Tyrant has taken extreme damage to her forward sections but she's still in the fight." Reported communications.

"Tractor beam crews do your job!" Shouted Venka "I don't want any more suicide attacks crippling my fleet."

"The heavy Capital ships have changed formation, they're much closer together now."

"They're likely trying to overlap their defenses even more to make up for the gaps." Venka pointed at the weapons officer. "Weapons don't let up."

The bridge shook again with the tell-tale sensation of a gravity well going active.  
"We're detecting a massive gravity surge ahead, bigger than anything they've used so far."

The ops officer spoke up over the rising din of the bridge. "Sirs, the inertial compensators are being put under too much strain. If this keeps up we're looking at a ship wide failure in minutes!"

"It looks like the capital analogs are combining their projectors to form a single large black hole." Reported sensors.  
"Can you get a visual?" Requested the captain.

A bright flash from the forward viewports blinded everyone on the bridge for the milliseconds it took for the transparisteel to polarize.  
"I don't think that will be necessary Captain." commented Venka.

The sensor operator glanced towards the viewports for a split second then back to the displays.  
"The combined gravity well is drawing in most of the atmosphere near their fleet."

"This is helm, the reverse in the gas flow and the gravity are beginning to draw us in."

"Reverse engines but _do not _bring us about, we need the maximum number of guns on that fleet!" 

* * *

"Everything I try they _COUNTER!_" Ganner raged. "I'm running out of options!"

Kun's image crossed his arms, his spirit's voice remaining calm. "Then it's time for a more direct approach. Use the singularity."  
"What do you mean?"

"A black hole exists in the Force as much as anything else does." The dead Lord spoke as though he was lecturing a child. "These Aliens may not follow the same rules as we do but they're most definitely still on the same game board. They're putting all of their effort into something that exists in the same way and causes the same effects for both of our people. Use it against them."

The absurdity of the idea failed to register with Ganner this time especially after having seen what was possible. With a thought he released the winds and clouds under his control. Anything remotely close to the Vong fleet would still be drawn in by the gravity well. The _black_ hole seemed anything but that, surrounded as it was by hydrogen undergoing fusion. The deadly maelstrom was one of the most powerful things he had ever witnessed. Reaching out for it hesitantly at first he felt the edge of the event horizon's crushing grip. The best way he could think to describe it would have been a perfect sphere where its entire surface was like a sharp blade.

"You have it..." coached the spirit, "now, act."

Tightening his grip, the sphere ceased moving toward the Imperial fleet. Vader's voice echoed through his head. "They are directly opposite our forces. Finish them."  
Holding tight he pushed the black hole slowly away from the feeling of life present in the fleet. There was an immediate response; whatever the aliens had used to create the singularity ceased its efforts. Grasping its edges Ganner just barely stopped the void from disappearing.

"Are there more?"

"Yes." responded Vader looking through the eyes of an Executor Bridge officer. "Quickly, before they escape."

Using every last ounce of will he forced the singularity wider.

117


	118. Chapter 118

"Enemy formation is scattering sir." Reported Sensors "But it looks like they're being drawn into the void."

The Admiral pressed a button at one of the terminals near the viewports.

"Venka to all ships, target enemy vessels most likely to escape the gravity well." 

Captain Tynan remained near the sensor officer's station clutching tightly to a handhold on the wall as the ship shook.  
"Admiral, we're at full reverse but we're still being drawn in."

"Stay calm everyone, thanks to Lord Vader we have the situation well in hand."

Outside remaining swirls of cloud were finally being swallowed by the black hole.

The Captain moved a few steps through the bridge pit to look over another officer's shoulder. "All gunnery station report targeting back at 100%. And it looks like these Vong can't use their defenses while they're trying to escape the gravity well."

"Full power Turbolaser salvos." Ordered Venka. "Cease the rapid fire."  
"Yes sir!"

Executor's port and starboard batteries each fired a wave of green energy at Vong Cruiser analogs. The Corral hulled vessels burst open into vapours debris clouds. Contained plasma ruptured from compromised storage, its orange glow backlighting the wreckage.

Death Squadrons other Star Destroyers set about killing frigates in single volleys. The crews were all well practiced in mop-up operations; Executor was always given first crack at the largest enemy capitals.

A less severe impact then the one's the crew were becoming accustomed to shook the bridge.  
"Enemies are continuing suicide runs."  
"Leave them to our fighters and support ships."

Farther away from the Imperial formation than most others a Vong cruiser analog was hit by one of Avenger's Turbolaser volleys. Her flank ripped apart by the high power beams the ship began to twist and roll with only half of her Dovin Basals left alive to pull her through space. Before its bow could come around to complete a 180 degree turn a Turbolaser burst from Executor struck its stern shredding it. 

Executor's sensor officer frowned in confusion at his screens. "What the- Enemy fighters have begun acting erratically sir, they're no longer coordinating their attacks!"  
"Good, keep the pressure on them." Urged the Admiral, pumping his fist in the air.

Captain Tynan came back over to the sensor station to see what was happening.  
"I have no idea what's happening sir." whispered the man before he could even be asked. "It's like cutting the head off a Verpine the body just keeps twitching."  
The Captain was about to ask for a replay of the last few second when a red light went off on the console.  
"The singularity is contracting!"

The Admiral spun on his heel. "All ships full power to engines and shields. Helm, bring us about."  
"Aye."

Executor pulled a hard turn to port using both maneuvering thrusters and the main drives. The colossal ship's bow swung around faster than any other time in her career. All Starboard turbolasers discharged a final broadside into the remaining enemies.

"Gravity readings are fluctuating. It's losing cohesion."

Tynan, again holding on near the sensor officer shouted out. "There's not enough matter contained to maintain a super massive singularity!"

"Helm answering full power. Accelerating to flank speed."

The Captain looked to the Admiral. "We don't have enough time."

"It's losing it!"

The sphere of super compressed matter, no longer being held together by the artificial gravity exploded outward in a blinding detonation. The shockwave expanded, a clearly visible bubble pushing aside anything in its way. The wave dimpled Yavin 4's atmosphere but didn't sweep it aside.

"All hands, Brace! Brace!" Venka had the presence of mind to shout over the intercom.

Everyone on the bridge was thrown forward, the inertial compensators and concussion dampeners losing effectiveness as they began to fail. More than a few cried out and one woman gave a short scream. Within seconds however everyone was picking themselves up and remaining their stations. Before either the Captain or the Admiral could shout for a report the Helmsman spoke up.  
"We're clear of any debris or blast wave. Re-establishing standard orbit."

The sensors officer stabbed buttons on his console one handed, his other arm twisted the wrong way. "One corvette analog is fleeing the area, all other enemy ships appear to be destroyed."

"I did it." whispered Ganner, eyes open and staring, arms still reaching up towards the sky.

"Yes you did." commented Kun. "Congratulations."

Ganner collapsed. His hair was grey, the skin on his face wrinkled and thin, and his eyes were sunken. He looked like a man 80 years older than the young Force user that had been there minutes ago.

"I'm sure you will be remembered as the hero you always wanted to be."  
Kun's spirit turned to Vader, who in turn kneeled as Ganner's side. Reaching into the mind of the twisted and weak form before him the Sith Lord began to strip it of all memories and personality. Everything that made the young man what he was.

He cried out seemingly in pain from Vader's assault but soon went quiet.

+++

Jalib watched the fireball in the sky fade out. The Force presence responsible for the entire event receding with it.

A loud scream pierced the silence of the lake temple. He and Ganner may never have trusted each other but they were still Master and Apprentice; they shared a link through the Force however small it was. Through it Brandle could tell that Ganner was dying. Now it was time to see what had happened to him.

He climbed the steps into the temple and was soon entering the courtyard. Lord Vader was near Ganner leaning over the arrogant apprentice, hand on the younger man's head."

"Is he dead?"

Vader stood, still looking at Ganner's body. "No."

"What should be done with him?" Asked Jalib. "Surely I would not be able to train him following this."

"Oh I'm sure I'll be able to think of something." said a voice from behind.

Jalib turned to face Exar Kun's ghost.  
"Leave us spirit, there is no one for you to control here. We will be gone from this place before Yavin sets."

Kun smirked. "Fear not, I'm sure one of you will be gone long before that time."

Jalib could sense Vader approaching and grew emboldened.  
"I fear no ghost. I could hold you at bay for as long a-" The red blade of a lightsaber flashed into existence sticking out of Brandles chest just below the sternum.  
"W-what!?" he gasped in surprise as air fled past his lips. The Sith Lord laid Brandle down on the floor of the temple, clipping the other man's lightsaber to his belt.

"You're seen and heard too much to be left alive." replied Vader's mechanically amplified voice.

"What... about... Emperor?" Jalib was able to get out between attempts at sucking down air.

"A pair of foolishly ambitious dark Jedi is a small price to pay for a victory like this one. He will not care about your fate."

Closing his eyes as his life left him the younger man whispered. "I've failed... you father."

Vader felt a tiny pang of regret but quickly squashed it. Thumbing on his lightsaber he burned out Brandle's eyes for good measure before sending his body tumbling down the Temple's steps.

Once he had composed himself Vader activated his comlink. "Admiral, status report."

"The enemy fleet is routed my Lord. Only one small ship has managed to escape. The Destroyer Tyrant is heavily damaged but is hyperspace capable. No other serious damage besides starfighter losses."

"Good. Prepare engineering teams to land large scale holoprojectors near my location. This Temple must be completely camouflaged."

"It will be done immediately my Lord."

When he was done Vader turned to look out over the still waters of the lake. The thunder like echo from the orbital explosion's shockwaves reverberated through the area.

"Do you intend to follow up on our agreement?" Asked Kun's ghost, remaining incorporeal.

"Yes... but I will be needed elsewhere for some time. With Rhysode's body and the various _subjects_ Brandle left in the Great Temple you should have a great deal to occupy you."

"Do not wait too long. My patience is not as infinite as haunting these temples may leave one to believe."

"I will leave an updated archive on the Yuuzhan Vong before I leave. Hopefully you will come up with new techniques to use against them. "

With that the Dark Lord turned and descended the temples steps towards the lake. Inwardly he hoped that Kun wouldn't have need to use any Anti-Vong techniques he might come up with. 

118


	119. Chapter 119

Bright green bursts of Turbolaser fire from the Destroyer Terminus shattered a corvette analog as the ship pumped out fire in every direction.

Bridge officers had to shout to be heard over the multiple caution and warnings from their stations.  
"We are completely surrounded! Two interdictor analogs have jumped in, one off our port aft the other the starboard aft!"

"Signal Superior and standby to launch fighters. Tell Dagith we're going back to back with his ship."  
The impact of heavy plasma fire shook the ship.  
"Move our Lancer frigates to cover our belly and ha-"  
Rhamsec was cut off by an especially heavy impact near the bridge.  
"Screen the bridge towers with the Carracks!"

Shield status continued to drop as the ships of Captain Rhamsec's group slowly moved into their new formation. Once the two Destroyers had maneuvered 'back to back' the triangular vessels were able to pour out similar amounts of fire in nearly every direction. While most of the Vong Shards were fast and agile enough to dodge the heavy Turbolaser fire anything larger were forced to pull back slightly buying the Imperial ships valuable seconds.

CSSD Superior and her escorts leapt out of hyperspace, dragged out by the enemy interdictors right in position to attack their fleet. A classic Thrawn Pincer. They had only barely finished reversion when their cannons and batteries opened up. The plasma fire concentrated on Terminus and Contrition lessened soon after as Vong ships and escort fighters exploded under Imperial guns.

"Vong interdictors are pulling out."

"Helm bring us about and put us on a bearing that will bring us below the nearest Interdictor. We'll dump our fighters into the mix when we're right on top of them!"  
"Captain, signal from the command ship. The Admiral wants us to break off and jump back to the fleet immediately!"

Arnul slammed his fist on the arm of his command chair. "We have them on the run. Damn it all." he grumbled under his breath.

At length he sighed. "Helm do as he says, let's go."

* * *

Twenty minutes later Terminus had rejoined the fleet in orbit of Ord Biniir. Shuttles and cargo tugs littered space around the more heavily damaged capital ships. Mixed squadrons of heavily armed Tie craft patrolled the outer fringes. Before long Superior's group too dropped out of hyperspace on the edges of the planet's gravity well.

"Signal incoming from the command ship."

"Put it through." responded Arnul in a somewhat resigned voice.  
The holo image of the Grand Admiral crackled into existence near the command chair.  
"You're probably annoyed right now I'm guessing." Burgan said without preamble.

"Something like that." Rhamsec replied running a hand over his bald head.

"You remember second year tactics training?"  
"That's getting to be a long time ago."

"There was a particular lesson; it had to do with being decisive. 'If you fight the same foe for too long they will learn all of your tactics.' Have your sensors officer check the last battle site when we're done talking."

"I'll do that. Care to let me in on your overall plan?"

"In 12 hours I'm transferring my flag to Despot. Superior will stay here while we're away. I'm giving you command of a strike group that will microjump to my location when we put out a homing beacon."

"Sounds solid enough, we'll be ready over here."

"This is what I've been saving our fighters for over the past few days Arnul. It's going to be a big one. Burgan out."

The hologram winked out leaving the Captain to contemplate for a moment.

"Sensors get me some scans of our last engagement site. I was lead to believe it could be interesting."

"Aye Sir."

The officer turned and called up the sensor data in greater detail then set about double checking her displays.

"Captain I'm detecting what looks to be three carrier analogs with escort and nearly a thousand starfighters."

"Emperor's black bones." whispered the first officer as he came over to look at the readings.

Rhamsec frowned. "Indeed. That's a huge concentration of force to bring to bear in such a short time. Superior could have been destroyed had more interdictors arrived."

Arnul's first turned to him. "Sir, do you get the feeling that the Grand Admiral and the enemy commander are playing a game of Dejarik in this system?

He thought about it before replying.  
"Yes, but this game is played with fire and steel and men's lives. It is a game played for keeps and I'm sure the loser can expect only death or worse."

* * *

"I always hated convoy escort missions." commented Wintle. "Waiting to see if any Rebels or Pirates would show up and start strafing the ships you were supposed to protect."

Dorja nodded absently. "Did you ever escort a Bacta Convoy?"

Wintle half chuckled. "Thankfully not. I was glad to hear when their transports were redesigned."

"After Endor they became a major target. Many of the captains that had served at Endor had their records tarnished protecting those damned ships."

"Even you sir?"  
"Even me. Pellaeon got off lucky, the Admiralty had him transferred to logistics command and Venka never had to worry as long as he commanded Executor. No one would ever send a Super Star Destroyer to protect cargo ships."

One of the junior officers approached the two men.  
"All civilian ships are in formation sirs. The Victory Destroyers are waiting for the fleet to begin moving before taking position."

"Time to get this wagon train rolling then. Helm, let's get the fleet moving, put us on a course out of the system. We'll change course for hyperspace jumps when we receive recon telemetry."

The Fleet of mixed ships were packed relatively close together in a formation resembling a cylinder. Star Destroyers anchored the ends and mid section, while lighter ships like cruisers and frigates filled the gaps. Between the guns on the warships and those on the civilian ships the fleet had multiple overlapping fields of fire in every possible direction.

"Sentry One has dropped out of hyperspace." Reported the sensors officer.  
"Right on schedule." nodded the Admiral approvingly.

Over the next few minutes more hyperspace capable fighters and gunboats that had been sent to scout the nearby hyperlanes dropped back in system.

After a few minutes of silence the sensors officer spoke up again. "Sentry two has still not appeared sir, it is officially overdue."  
"We'll give them another twenty minutes then we leave without them." decided Dorja.

It was just over five minutes later when the next reports came in.  
"Sentry two has jumped in system. It is off course by a considerable margin."  
"Incoming transmission."

"Loudspeakers." answered Wintle pointing to the com officer.

The pilot's voice blasted out over the bridge speakers sounding out of breath. "This is Sentry Two! We are being perused by an enemy corvette squadron, ETA of ten minutes or less!"

Dorja stood. "Get all fighters aboard _now_. Helm take the fleet to hyperspace."

"Aligned for route selection three, transmitting data to fleet." A red lit timer popped up on the command displays scrolling down the number of seconds until all ships would begin their jumps.

"Com, send a data burst to the Bonadan defense force just in case they weren't monitoring our communications."

"Aye sir... signal is away."

The timer scrolled down to zero.  
"Commencing hyperspace jump."  
The less tightly packed starts of the Tingel Arm were still numerous enough to fill the viewports as they stretched to infinity the instant before the ship transitioned to hyperspace.

Chatter on the bridge remained low for the next few minutes as the crew worked, the familiar hum of hyperspace travel seeming to infuse everything.

"Will they be alight?" Asked the Commander.

Dorja looked up from a pad he was studying. "I'm sure the Corporate Sector can hold off a few corvette analogs."

"What if they choose not to? They've never been the most trustworthy as far as governments go."

"They'll figure things out soon enough." he answered with a weary certainty. 'That or the Inquisitor will _make_ them figure it out.' he thought.

119


End file.
